More Than A Feeling
by ugala5777
Summary: Hinata is happy with her lover, Kiba, until she's rescued by/begins secret training with the most feared rogue ninja of Konoha. As she gets to know him, she finds he's not as bad as people say. But after so much time together, things are bound to happen..
1. Chapter 1

"Hinata!" Kiba yelled as he tackled her to the ground in desperation. The kunai hit the tree behind them, right where Hinata's head had been. Kiba got up and pulled out his shuriken. "You'll pay for this!" He yelled, outraged.

From the ground, Hinata looked up and saw Kisame, a member of the Akatsuki, right in front of her, Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino. Hinata struggled to her feet, ready for battle. Kisame looked smug and over-confident.

All of a sudden, a flock of black crows flew into the trees and interrupted the fight that was just about to begin. All five of them ducked as the crows flew straight over their heads.

"Oh, brother," said Kisame. Hinata and her team knew exactly what this meant.

Trouble.

As the crows all came together, they revealed the strongest, most evil rogue ninja from Konoha. He was once called the Pride of the Uchiha clan. The one who had killed the whole Uchiha clan, and left his little brother, Sasuke alive to emotionally suffer from that night.

Itachi Uchiha.

Hinata backed away, terrified. She looked over at her team members, who looked hungry for battle (with the exception of Shino, since he didn't really have any facial expressions. Besides, you couldn't really see him behind his sunglasses.). She stood up straight and pulled out a kunai.

"Ah, Itachi," said Kisame. "Showing off as usual. And I see you've failed to get the Jinchuriki."

Itachi said nothing, but the young Konoha ninja all knew who they were after. Naruto Uzumaki, who had the spirit of the Kyuubi sealed within him.

After a long silence, Itachi spoke. "Let's go, Kisame," he said evenly and calmly, as usual. "These brats aren't worth it."

"It wouldn't be very smart to let them go." Kisame grabbed a handful of Hinata's long, purple-black hair. "And THIS one doesn't stand a chance, anyways. There's no point in letting them go. Let's just finish them off right here and right now."

Hinata struggled angrily as Kiba threw a shuriken Kisame's way. Kisame easily dodged his attack with an evil laugh.

"That's nothing compared to what I can do," he said to Kiba.

Suddenly, Itachi appeared in front of Kisame, his eyes glowing red with his Sharingan. Kisame immediately quit taunting them.

"I said," said Itachi coolly, "these brats aren't worth it." Kisame gulped as Itachi turned on his famous Mangekyou Sharingan. Kisame let go of Hinata's hair and fell to the ground as she fell into Kiba's arms.

"Hinata!" He said, his voice full of concern. "Are you alright, babe?" All she could do was give a shaky nod and hug her boyfriend even tighter. Akamaru barked and gave Hinata a big, sloppy, wet lick on her cheek.

When Hinata pulled away from Kiba, she saw Itachi helping Kisame to his feet. "Let's go," he said, and the two of them disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Hinata stared where they where before they disappeared, shocked from what had just happened. Shino walked over to where her, Kiba, and Akamaru were, and broke her trance. "Is everyone alright?" He asked. Hinata gave another shaky nod as Kiba said, "yeah, I think so." Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Well, it looks like training is over for the day," said Shino. "Kiba, let's go and get Hinata to the hospital, then inform the Hokage. She probably already knows they came for Naruto, but we better tell her what just happened to us."

"But, I'm fine!" Hinata protested, surprised that she was capable of speaking.

"Hinata, you need some rest," said Shino. Then, without another word, the three of them began walking back to the entrance gate to Konoha. Kiba wrapped his arm around Hinata's waist, and she did the same to him, and rested her head on his shoulder. She was glad that Itachi had showed up and spared them, even though he was still scared her a lot.

But right before they disappeared, Hinata saw that Itachi was looking at her, with something new in his eyes. Not evil, not hate, but something… different, that she couldn't quite place a name for, right before he had disappeared to the evil Akatsuki lair.


	2. Chapter 2

"They left?" said Tsunade, shocked.

"Yes, ma'am. The one with the big sword attacked, but Itachi made him stop," added Shino. Kiba nodded and Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Hmm…" said Tsunade thoughtfully. "I wonder why."

There was a long pause in the room as the four of them thought. Finally, Tsunade broke the silence.

"Thank you for telling me. You may leave." She turned to look out her large window.

"Yes ma'am!" Kiba and Shino said in unison, and they left without another word to the Hokage.

Meanwhile, Hinata lay silently in her hospital bed, wide awake. Her mind was working rapidly around the event that had just taken place. What _was_ that look Itachi had given her, anyway? And why hadn't he wanted to attack?

Perhaps he was just out of chakra, she thought. Yeah, that had to be it. But the town didn't look like it had been in peril when her and  
the team returned. But they had been looking for Naruto… So why was everyone so calm about it, then?

Right in the midst of this thought, the door to her room opened, and there was her cousin Neji, looking as unconcerned as ever. He thanked Sakura, who had escorted him, and sat in the chair beside Hinata's bed. She propped herself up, happy to see him. Neji was always willing to help Hinata, and was always there for her. He was also the youngest Jonin of Konoha, and Hinata wished to be as great a ninja as him one day.

"How do you feel?" asked Neji.

"Fine," Hinata replied.

"I heard about what happened. You were visited by the Akatsuki. And not just any member, either. Itachi Uchiha."

Hinata felt an electric shock run down her spine at the mention of that name.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Neji asked again.

"I promise, I'm fine. None of us were hurt." Hinata paused, then decided to tell Neji that "Itachi stopped Kisame from attacking.

Neji's eyes widened slightly. "Really? Do you know why?"

Hinata shrugged. "Um, all he said was that we weren't worth it."

"Hmm…" said Neji. "That's very strange."

Silence fell between them. As they sat there quietly, the door opened once more. It was Hinata's father, Hiashi Hyuuga

"Neji," he said. Neji looked back at him. "Let us continue your training."

"Yes, Hiashi," said Neji. He stood up and walked toward his uncle.

"But first, Neji," said Hiashi, "let me have a word with Hinata."

Neji gave a brief nod of his head. "I'll be at the house," he said. And with that, he was gone, leaving Hinata alone with her father. Hinata hung her head, ready to get contradicted, like she always was, by him.

Hiashi walked over to the bed, but didn't take the seat. "Look into my eyes, daughter," he said. Hinata raised her pure white eyes to look into her father's identical ones.

"I'm disappointed in you, Hinata. As always, you were just harder on your team." He tore his eyes away from hers to look out the window. "You're the only one that ended up in the hospital. And I have heard that they didn't attack."

"Um," Hinata shyly piped up. "I was… kind of abused…"

"Kind of," said Hiashi. He looked back at Hinata furiously. "Hinata, that's ridiculous. If you don't have courage to face the enemy, no matter how strong, then you don't have what it takes to be a ninja. You might as well give it up." He turned his back her way and walked towards the door, and then stopped, with his hand on the doorknob.

"You're nothing but a humiliation to the Hyuuga clan," he said. And then he disappeared behind the door, leaving Hinata alone and ashamed. 


	3. Chapter 3

Sakura quickly placed her hand on Hinata's shoulder before she walked out into the cold night.

"Hinata," she said. Hinata looked back at the worried Sakura. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I-I'm fine," Hinata informed her. Sakura wasn't only referring to what had happened that afternoon, though. She had just happened to be passing by her room when she heard the brief conversation she had had with her father.

"Are you really?" Sakura asked, even more worried. "I mean, a lot has happened today."

"Really, I'm fine. Thanks for checking, though." Hinata smiled sweetly at the pretty, caring girl, whose green eyes were filled with nothing but pity for Hinata.

Sakura smiled sadly back. "Um, don't forget this," she said, holding up Hinata's purple jacket.

"Thank you," she said, slipping it on. "Well, goodnight Sakura. And… thank you." Sakura, besides Kiba, was the only one who had shown this much concern.

"Okay. Goodnight." Sakura looked down at her feet then shut the door behind Hinata.

Stars dotted the black nighttime sky, as a full moon illuminated the quiet streets of Konoha. Hinata continued walking the opposite direction from her home, keeping her eyes on the beautiful scene above her, and past the gates of Konoha. She had to train. She didn't want to disappoint her father or be an embarrassment to the clan.

The forest was lovelier than ever, the light from the stars and moon gleaming through the branches in the trees. The beautiful silver light looked like tiger slashes across everything it touched. But there was no time to marvel at nature's beauty. It was time for training.

"Byaakugan!" cried Hinata. Soon, she could see everything around her from miles away.

Suddenly, a kunai came out of nowhere, with a paper bomb attached. Hinata had quick reflexes, but not quick enough, as this was rather unexpected. The kunai landed a yard or two in front of her and exploded, knocking Hinata right off her feet and hitting her back against a tree.

When she opened her eyes, she realized that there was a smokescreen attached, as now she couldn't see a thing. "Byaakugan!" she yelled again, realizing that it had turned off in all the commotion.

Now she could see. She could see a figure standing there, right in front of her, but not attacking. Still, she attempted to brace herself, ready to fight.

But she couldn't move her back away from the tree.

In fact, she was tied up by an invisible wire.

"You're not going anywhere," said a familiar voice.

That's when she realized that she hadn't looked closely at the figure in front of her. So she dared herself to look up.

And what she saw made her gasp in shock.

"Mangekyou Sharingan!"


	4. Chapter 4

It was dark. Her heart was beating fast and cold sweat dewed on her forehead, running down her cheeks, along with waterfalls of tears. She breathed faster and faster, getting more and more frightened as each second passed. What was happening to her?

"MANGEKYOU SHARINGAN!" A pair of furious, yet familiar red eyes appeared in front of her.

"NOOOOO!" Hinata's eyes flew open and she sat up in a dark room on a soft bed, which was almost swimming with her own sweat and tears. As she awoke in a confused mess, her eyes filled with a fresh layer of tears, and she began another round of bitter sobbing. She had no idea where she was, but all she knew was that she was far from home, and probably in grave danger.

And to top it off, probably out of chakra as well.

All of a sudden, Hinata heard quick footsteps, running closer and closer. The door on the other side of the wall flew open, and there he stood. Itachi Uchiha.

"What is it? Are you okay?" he asked. Hinata could see slight worry fill his usually dead-looking eyes.

"I-I d-don't know wh-what hap-pened," she stuttered nervously. "Wh-where am I?"

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you. And you're not far from home." Hinata relaxed slightly. "So, you don't remember what happened?"

Hinata shook her head.

"My idiot brother attacked you," said Itachi sadly.

Hinata then vaguely remembered what had happened. Sasuke had returned, with his Mangekyou Sharingan developed. He had tied her to a tree, and briefly placed his genjutsu on her. But he wasn't able to hurt her too much, because Itachi came to the rescue. But Hinata hadn't seen all of their battle, since she had passed out.

"Where is Sasuke?" asked Hinata.

"I don't know," said Itachi. "But I do know that he's gotten much more powerful."

"Um," said Hinata. "Why was he at Konoha, anyway?"

"He probably heard that I was there and went to attack me. But whatever. He's no match for me, anyways." Itachi paused. "I'm not sure why he bothered with you though. Sorry about him."

Hinata nodded her head. Itachi came and sat on the edge of the bed beside her. Hinata blushed and looked down at the covers.

"Are you about ready to return to Konoha, Hinata?" asked Itachi.

"How long have I been missing?" she asked.

"Well," said Itachi. "A few days. If you're feeling good, then it would probably be a good idea to go back. As soon as possible." He paused. "They all know. They've got together a search party."

Hinata was surprised that she'd been out for so long. But, then again, she HAD been in a very dangerous genjutsu, so it wasn't exactly her fault. And Itachi. Why had he bothered to rescue her in the first place?

"Itachi," she said.

"Yes?" he asked.

Hinata hesitated, not sure if she should ask. But, she went straight for it. "Please, Itachi. Please help train me."

Itachi looked up at her, slightly surprised. "Wait… what?"

_I cannot believe myself_, thought Hinata. "Itachi, you're almost invincible. I'm just a burden on my team. I'm always the one in trouble. Please train me. I need your help."

Itachi was actually very surprised. _Well_, he thought to himself, _this is a very courageous act. Especially for a shy, delicate girl like her_.

Itachi couldn't help but give her a small smile. "Well, alright," he said. "But first, you have to go back to Konoha. And you can't tell anyone, or they'll think you're betraying the village, and your comrades." He got up from the bed and looked down at her seriously. "I'll see you here every Tuesday at 9:00 p.m., whenever you're not on a mission. Don't forget." And with that, he was gone.

Hinata was slightly nervous, but also pleased that he had agreed to train with her. As she walked back to Konoha, she thought, _now, I can show my father how strong I really am_.


	5. Chapter 5

"I'm sorry, I promise I won't run away again. I… I don't know what came over me." Hinata stood in Lady Tsunade's office with all nine rookies and team Gai, which made up her little search party. Tsunade tore her gaze away from the window to glare furiously at the young Hyuuga.

"If this ever happens again," she yelled, "then I'll make you an official missing nin. You got that?"

"Um, yes ma'am. I'm sorry." Hinata bowed before the Hokage. Tsunade's face softened.

"Alright. Just from now on, _**stay in Konoha.**_"

"Hai!" she said. Of course, she knew that she was lying. For she had plans every Tuesday night to train with a dangerous S-Ranked criminal, which they had decided right that day before Hinata returned to her home town.

"Everyone is dismissed. Hinata, talk to me tomorrow."

"Hai!" the ninja said in unison. Kiba walked up to Hinata and kissed her on the cheek. They walked outside beneath the beautiful sunlit sky, Hinata resting her head on his shoulder as Shino and Akamaru walked beside them. Abruptly, Kiba stopped. He grabbed both of her shoulders and firmly, yet gently, turned Hinata to face him. He looked dead serious, which he usually wasn't.

"Promise you won't ever run away again. I was so worried." Hinata felt rather ashamed, even though it wasn't actually her fault. She looked him straight in the eyes.

"I promise I will never run away. Ever."

Kiba smiled a little. "Good. Just remember that I'll always love you." He took her face between his hands and gave her a soft, romantic kiss. When he pulled away, he looked like he usually did, as if he thought that life was just a big joke, with his perfect smile and fiery eyes. Hinata smiled, glad that he had forgiven her so easily. That's one thing that she absolutely loved about him. He also cared for her so much, wasn't too clingy, and an all-around perfect boyfriend that anyone would wish for. And he was a great kisser, too.

Hinata slipped her fingers into Kiba's and they walked down the path to the Hyuuga residence in silence, while in the distance, Shino was getting playfully attacked by Akamaru.

"Get off! You'll upset my poor bugs!" they faintly heard Shino yell as Akamaru tackled him to the ground with a happy bark. His big tongue lolled out of his mouth and he dog-kissed Shino on every inch of his well-covered face. Kiba didn't do anything about his dog. Just laughed.

"Running away doesn't solve anything, daughter. It doesn't make you stronger, just more of a burden on the others." Hinata was home, getting yet another lecture about what a real ninja is. He was looking out the window, so Hinata promply made a gun with her hand, held it to her head, stuck out her tongue, and pulled the "trigger." Neji laughed silently.

"I saw that." Hiashi turned around, Byaakugan turned on. Hinata blushed.

"Um, sorry."

"Go to your room," said her father. Hinata walked toward the door, then stopped, remembering that she had lost track of the days.

"Um, father?" He turned around. "Um, what… day is it today?"

"Saturday." Hiashi looked back out his window.

"Okay." Hinata left the room, and then walked up to the top of her house where her room was. She flopped down on her bed, her mind buzzing with what happened that day before she came back to Konoha. Itachi had rescued her. Itachi, of all people, had rescued HER. _Why did he do it?_ Hinata wondered. _Why would he bother helping me?_ In fact, a part of her wished that he had just let her die. She wouldn't have to hear any more crap from her father. But she would miss all her friends, especially Neji and Kiba.

Just as she thought this, she heard a soft knock on her door. She got up and opened it up to see her cousin.

"Neji," she said. She stood aside to let him in. When he was in, she shut the door. "What is it?"

"Hinata," said Neji. "Did you really run away?"

_Shoot, he knows_. "Uh, no…"

"Don't lie to me, cousin." Neji, as usual, was rather serious. "What really happened?"

"I told you, I ran away—"

"Hinata, I know you too well. I can tell when you're lying." He looked down at her hands, which were nervously tugging at her jacket. "You tug on your jacket whenever you lie."

"Oh…" Hinata let her hands drop to her side. "Neji, will you promise not to tell anyone? And I mean, don't say a WORD about this. Promise?"

"I promise."

Hinata looked down. "I was attacked… by Sasuke."

Neji stiffened. "That idiot Uchiha that's obsessed with revenge? _That_ Sasuke?"

"Well, I guess you could put it that way… He was planning to assault the village. I guess he tried to kill me so I couldn't run and tell the Hokage, or something."

"What happened after that?"

Hinata looked away from her cousin. "I don't know… I can't remember…"

"Jacket," Neji reminded her.

Hinata sighed. "That's all I can tell you. Sorry, but… I can hardly believe it myself."

"What happened?"

"I told you. I can't tell you anything more."

Neji looked a bit suspicious, but he gave in. "Very well. I'll leave you alone now." He brushed past his nervous cousin. She heard the door open behind her, then Neji's voice. "Hinata. Please don't do anything reckless."

Hinata side glanced at him. "I won't."

Neji looked like he believed her. Then he shut the door behind him. After all, she wasn't tugging at her jacket. Her hands were casually to her side when she promised him not to do anything reckless.

But Hinata didn't exactly know if what she was doing was reckless. Itachi seemed willing to train her. And he HAD rescued her from his own brother. Hinata had to admit- he was a very trustworthy person. Howeverm she had no idea what would happen as time wore on.

No idea at all.

* * *

Hey readers. Thank you for the reviews I've recieved so far. I swear, it makes my day. I hope you continue to find interest. I'm planning on making this story kind of long. But I don't know how long, exactly. Anyways. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy the rest! ^^


	6. Chapter 6

"First of all, show me what you can do."

Hinata glared fiercely at the young Akatsuki member, ready to give it her all. The moon glowed down on them, like an angel was watching them with a giant, silver flashlight.

It was a miracle that Hinata was able to get away from Konoha that night. Three slow days had already dragged by, and Hinata wasn't aloud to go anywhere alone for a while, so she wasn't let out of sight from anyone. Tsunade made extra sure of that. So, that night, Hinata left her bed at 8:30, before making sure that Neji was asleep. Of course he was. Hinata had planned out what she would do to get away from home without getting caught, therefore taking extra, EXTREME precautions.

She had drugged her family.

She didn't want to, but Neji had to sleep in her room on a spare futon, since someone had to watch her at all times. So, since she was the lady of the house, she was the one who had to prepare dinner, and while making a pitcher of her famous, fresh cherry lime juice, she had put a drug in there that would knock them out the whole night.

"I'm sorry, Neji. But I had no choice." Hinata brushed the shoulder of her knocked-out cousin, pulled the covers up, brushed his hair out of his face, then opened her window and fled (of course, she made sure to close it, also).

It seemed Itachi hadn't forgotten much about the village. He told her 9:00 p.m. because it took her approximately 30 minutes to go from Konoha to go to their training spot. And 8:30 was the time that the day and night gaurds switched shifts. They also took a while to chat about the odd things that they saw that day, mostly having to do with Naruto.

Hinata smiled smugly as she snuck through the front gate. _Itachi _is _as clever as they say, after all. He hasn't forgotten a thing about the village_.

The second she left the gate, she broke into a run. As she approached the forest, she jumped up into the trees, leaping flawlessly from branch to branch. Adrenaline pumped through her chakra filled veins. _I've escaped!_

Now, here she was, before the famous Uchiha. Not friends, not enemies. Just a sensei and student, training in the silver moonlight. Itachi, Hinata had to admit, looked rather dashing in the moonlight.

She closed her eyes. Now wasn't the time to marvel at his… well, beauty, which is the only word to describe it. If she wanted to impress her father, she had to let Itachi train her, first.

"Byaakugan!" Hinata could see everything, except what was in the Byaakugan's blind spot's field of vision. She ran toward the handsome young man, leapt off the ground, and did a graceful front flip in the air as she pulled out a kunai. As she began to fall, she viciously flung her kunai at Itachi, who easily dodged it.

Frustrated, Hinata beautifully landed on the ground and sprinted toward her new sensei.

"Ninja art! Gentle fist jutsu!" The young Konoha ninja shaped her chakra in the palm of her hand, the way Neji had taught her, and smacked her hand on Itachi's most important chakra flow.

"Augh!" Itachi winced, clutching where the Hyuuga had so viciously hit him. But the image before Hinata disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Hinata was angry. Itachi was nowhere to be found. Up high? Down low? Right? Left?

"Behind you, Hinata." Before Hinata could turn around to the familiar voice, a shuriken stabbed her, right where the Byaakugan's blind spot lies. But, like any other shinobi, Hinata didn't feel pain. Just annoyed that she had gotten hit.

The white-eyed teenager looked straight forward and saw Itachi, as emotionless as ever. He moved fast. How could she keep up with him?

Panting, Hinata turned off her Byaakugan. Itachi let her catch her breath before speaking up.

"I happen to know about the Hyuuga clan's secret blind spot," said Itachi. "You must always be aware of it. Even if it is smaller than the rest of your field of vision. The enemy WILL find out if you fight long enough."

There was another short silence as this sunk into Hinata. _Will I ever become a good shinobi?_

"Hinata."

She looked up.

"You really do have what it takes to be a great ninja. Especially if you were willing to train with me… It shows your courage and determination to become an excellent kunoichi one day. And, I'll train you until you're the best."

Hinata couldn't help but gasp. Her heart rate quickened. He was really willing to train with her until she was the BEST? Did he mean… literally, the best kunoichi in the ninja world?

Itachi walked behind Hinata and pulled the shuriken out of her back. Her jacket was coated in blood in the place that it had stabbed her, along with the blade of the shuriken.

"Before you leave, let me treat your wound."

Hinata was still blushing at his words, but she stood up straight and took off her favorite jacket, revealing her black mesh top. "Hai, sensei."

They sat down on the bank of the waterfall (the place Hinata had woken up was a secret room behind the waterfall) and Itachi began to rinse the crimson blood off her jacket. He hung it on a branch on a nearby tree to dry. Then he sat back down next to Hinata, and actually tore a piece of cloth from the bottom of his pants, wetted it, and dabbed at Hinata's back. She blushed more. _Wow… I can't believe how… _kind_ he is…_

"I'm sorry about this," said Itachi. "But if you really want to train with be, just know that I like to get the point through right off."

Hinata just briskly nodded her head. "Um, Itachi… you really don't have to do this."

Itachi dipped the cloth back into the water and continued dabbing. "Do you want to go back to Konoha with a blood-covered back and arouse suspicion?"

"Um…" he had a point. "No. Not really."

More silence fell between them. Not awkward, but peaceful. A silence of trustworthy peace. For some reason, Hinata just knew that she could trust Itachi. There was no reason to be afraid of him. So, she broke the silence with a curious question that had been lurking in her mind ever since she returned to Konoha.

"Itachi, why are you doing this?"

Itachi stopped dabbing. "Doing what?"

"Well, why are you training? Why didn't you just say know when I asked?" The Hyuuga bit her lip nervously.

"Well," started Itachi. "It wasn't a question. It was a demand. It didn't look like you'd take no for an answer." Itachi paused thoughtfully. "Besides, it was actually very respectful and daring of you to seek help from an S-Ranked criminal."

"Yeah? Well, I don't know why… I just… I felt like I _had_ to. I really don't know what came over me." She looked back at him. "But, sensei. I… guess I trust you."

Itachi couldn't suppress the small smile that found its way to his lips. "Well, that's good."

That was their last words for the night, until they said their goodbyes, until next time. As the two of them quietly made their way back to their separate homes, they both felt an odd sense of, well, they didn't know what to call it. But it was the best feeling that they had both had in a very long time.


	7. Chapter 7

Sunlight fell gently through the window and rested upon Hinata's closed eyelids. She awoke to the peaceful sound of birds chirping outside. Sitting up, she rubbed her pale eyes and stretched her sore joints. She wasn't quite ready to wake up, especially from a late night. But there were things that had to be done.

Hinata peered over the edge of her bed to see her cousin, still fast asleep. _Maybe I should lessen the amount of drugs I give them…_

She sighed and stumbled out of bed, dodging Neji on the floor. She ran down the stairs and out into the warm, sunny day. The sky was clearer and bluer than ever, and she took in a deep breath of the fresh outside air. She could hardly believe what had happened last night, but she still had a bandage on her wound and a tear in her jacket, which she had stayed up to sew shut, as not to raise suspicion from anyone. I mean, the whole town had a hawk's eye on her.

In the courtyard, Kiba was waiting, straddled on Akamaru's back as usual. He hopped off of him once he saw Hinata.

"Hey," he said, with a kiss on the cheek. "Are you ready to train today?"

"Hai," she said. She looked around. "Where's Shino?"

"He had a mission assigned to him yesterday."

"Oh, okay."

"Alright, let's go."

After training, Kiba walked Hinata home, kissed her goodbye, and rode away on Akamaru. He couldn't help but notice that she was slightly better. More aware of everything around her. In fact, she was able to deflect every weapon that he threw her way. Kiba also knew about the Byaakugan's blind spot. He had gone on a mission with Neji to bring Sasuke back to the village, where Neji was severely injured and found nearly dead. When they had all arrived back in Konoha, the medics had discovered the truth about the Byaakugan. But the secret would never leave the village.

He was glad of Hinata's improvements, but if he only knew…

Back at the Hyuuga residence, Hinata took care of Neji, who was awake, but had a severe migrane. She had to think of another way to get out of the house, without drugging them. Maybe there was some type of jutsu she could do. She'd have to research it.

Hinata put Neji in the dark closet (he was bothered by light, at the moment) with a glass of cold water and ice pack. She also gave him some extra blankets by the futon, which he gladly took and wrapped up in.

"Do you want anything else, Neji?" asked Hinata.

Neji groaned. "Just some rest. Thank you, Hinata. You don't have to stay here, if you don't want to."

"Well, I will, just in case you want anything later."

Neji was sweating and shivering like crazy. "Thank you, Hinata," he said again.

"It's no trouble."

Hinata turned on the portable heater and placed it next to her sick cousin, feeling rather guilty. _I can care less about my father, but Neji's never contradicted me. Well, okay he has, but not anymore. He's much better now._

"I'm going to call Sakura over," said Hinata.

Neji said nothing as he was too busy chattering and shivering.

Another week passed as her father and cousin got better, and she had learned a rather simple hypnosis jutsu so she wouldn't have to drug them again. She was still followed around by Neji, Kiba, or Kakashi, and everyone else everywhere, as of Tsunade's orders. On Tuesday, she followed the same routine, but with her new jutsu, Neji and her father were in a peaceful slumber where they would awake in the morning, wide awake instead of terribly hung over.

Hinata bowed to her mentor after another intense training session. She was worn out and covered in filth, but she was happy that she was improving. It turned out that Itachi was actually a rather excellent trainer, for she had learned more in only 14 hours of training than she had learned in one day back in Konoha.

Now the student and sensei sat at the top of the waterfall in silence. Not awkward, not friendly, but just a comfortable silence. The two shinobi, little did they know, were thinking the same thing. Hinata thought Itachi looked even more handsome than he did the last Tuesday. As for Itachi, he thought the same thing about Hinata. Her long hair was shimmering in the silver light of the full moon, right in front of them. Hinata stared at its immense beauty.

"The moon looks lovely tonight." Hinata looked over at her sensei. Itachi? Saying something was lovely? It didn't

seem possible to her before. "It makes me think about that night…"

Itachi trailed off, but the young girl knew exactly what he was talking about. Who wouldn't? As Hinata stared into Itachi's thoughtful face, she realized how empty he always seemed. She remembered vaguely before he was a rogue ninja. He seemed to care so much for the village, and most of all, Sasuke. But those were distant memories. But still, there seemed more to him than just a killer and an S-Ranked criminal from the Akatsuki.

"Itachi? Why did you… why did you kill everyone?" Before Hinata could stop herself, the words slipped from her throat. Hinata flushed and looked back at the moon as Itachi looked at her, looking slightly annoyed.

But he remained calm. "Well, I had to test my abilities. That's exactly what I told Sasuke." He looked back at the sky. "I was young and idiotic back then."

There was a short pause before Hinata asked: "If you could go back, would you redo it all over again? Do you regret it at all?" _Ugh, I HAVE to quit prying_.

But once again, Itachi answered calmly. "Actually, I have no regrets from that night. If I had a chance to go back then, I would do everything the same." He looked at her again, that same empty expression that he always wore. "And I wouldn't feel sorry. For anyone or anything. Besides, it's better than staying tied down to one small village. I couldn't take it anymore."

Hinata didn't know much about Itachi, but she thought there had to be a better reason than that. Even though it seemed pointless that he had slaughtered the whole Uchiha clan. There wasn't any possible reason in her mind that he had to have done it. But why keep Sasuke alive?

"Would… would you have killed Sasuke if you could go back?" Hinata's hand flew to her mouth. A small gasp escaped her lips. "I-I'm sorry, I'm prying too much."

Itachi was clearly offended, although, as usual, he was nearly expressionless. "Don't mention Sasuke to me again. Ever."

Hinata stood up. "I- guess… I'm sorry. I really am. I should go—"

As she was about to run away, cursing herself, Itachi wrapped his strong hands around her wrist. Hinata flushed a fresh shade of red. She closed her eyes, ready for his Mangekyou Sharingan.

"Hinata, wait." He didn't sound angry, but Hinata still hung her head, as she turned back toward him and looked up at him through her eyelashes. "If I could go back, I would do everything the same. Including keeping Sasuke alive." He looked out over the trees. "I know he's caused everyone in Konoha grief, but that's just how things go in this world. As for Naruto, well… he has to learn how to let people go. Everyone in your village does. Knowing him… he'll never come back."

Itachi let go of a speechless Hinata, who just stood there, staring at Itachi like an idiot. He looked down at her until she looked away. "Um, I guess I'll see you next time, then?"

He solemnly nodded his head. "Yes. I will see you next time, Hinata."

Itachi ran quickly into the forest, leaving the Hyuuga girl behind. Of course, he was really angry. He hated thinking about that night. Forced to leave his brother and the village he loved. Having to kill his friends and family. Even though he was ticked off, he somehow wasn't mad at the young, timid girl that had brought all the terrible memories to the surface. Besides, it wasn't really her fault. He had been the one to mention it in the first place. But it was more than that. She was… special. She was just, important, somehow.

"I'll do everything in my power to protect her," said Itachi aloud and determined.

Hinata stood at the top of the waterfall, where she had been deserted by the Uchiha man. Well, she felt the same way Itachi did. Even that last moment hadn't been awkward. Just another Itachi-and-Hinata moment. A moment where they both felt something that couldn't be labeled. It was just something deep with the two shinobi. Itachi and Hinata.

Even though she knew Itachi was angry, she knew he would forget about it next time and they would continue everything as it was before. Training late at night to early morning. Something that gave her that rush that everyone loves to feel.

Although he said that he killed the clan to "test his abilities," Hinata had no doubt in her mind that there was a better reason as she ran quickly home to Konoha.

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Hey, guys! I'm soo sorry it took me forever to upload. I was forced into the wilderness with a bunch of girls to camp with them. Well, today I just got back, showered and clipped my dirty nails, put on makeup, and it all felt soo good. Just know that I've had lots of withdrawls from not being able to write, and I will publish all my chapters ASAP. Thank you for reading, and thank you for reviewing. Means a lot to me! ^^


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey, sorry it took so long to upload. I'm making my chapters longer. I'll probably redo the first seven, and I'm making it more in Itachi's perspective, as well. So I hope you enjoy this chapter, and thank you all that are reading and reviewing. Please, enjoy! ^^**

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Once again, a beautiful day in Konoha. Sunny and bright in the training field. Hinata watched all the kids from the academy in the distance, all training hard and determined to become great ninja someday.

The Hyuuga smiled at the old memories from the academy long ago that were now flooding her head. When she was one of them. It was bittersweet in a way. But she knew that she knew hardly anything about Itachi in those days…

She laid on her stomach by the side of a millpond, sunlight glinting off the water surface, along with her reflection. Every week, her eyes seemed to glow brighter, and her brain filled with more knowledge. She was getting good at concentrating her chakra, had learned her chakra type, and was now working on shaping it in the palm of her hand.

Her chakra was running out, so she stayed beside the pond as fish leaped gracefully out of the water and bullfrogs jumped from Lilly Pad to Lilly Pad.

Hinata sighed and waited another ten minutes before working on shaping her chakra again. She held out her hands and closed her eyes in fierce concentration. Chakra pulsed through her veins, all the way down to her hands with an enormous amount of effort.

Now, she could hear water droplets falling into the pond. She could feel them against her white palms. The water was attracted to them like a magnet. Hinata felt a rush of joy, but kept her concentration.

_I get better and better every second I practice! Itachi is the best trainer there is. I couldn't do this without him…_

"Hinata."

The kunoichi's eyes flew open in surprise at the familiar voice behind her. She dropped the perfect ball of water and it fell back into the millpond with a _splash!_

She didn't turn around when he spoke again. "Something is going on, and I know it."

Hinata flushed. "I… don't know what you're talking about, cousin."

"You're lying. I know that something is going on. And just because you're trusted by Lady Tsunade again doesn't mean that you can leave every Tuesday at 9:30 A.M."

Hinata drew in a jagged gasp. How did Neji know? "Very funny, Neji. You're the one who's lying. I really don't know what you're talking about.

"Jacket," Neji reminded her. Hinata looked down at her stiff hands that were nervously clutching her jacket. She sighed and rested them in her lap. "Besides, the last three Tuesdays, you've done your little jutsu wrong on me. Lucky for you, Hiashi hasn't seemed to notice yet."

Hinata hung her head and closed her eyes, sighing. "Neji…" she didn't know what else to say.

"What's going on, Hinata?" Neji was now seated beside her, looking into the water. He waited expectantly for an answer.

Hinata twisted her long dark hair in her hands. "I can't tell you."

Neji looked up angrily. "What? Hinata, I think I deserve to know."

"But, I really can't! You wouldn't understand. _No_ one would." She looked up into the clouds. "I'm not doing anything bad. It would seem bad to you, but… that's why nobody would understand."

Neji calmed down as Hinata fell silent. "Hinata, you can tell me anything. I'm your cousin."

Hinata looked over at him and smiled reassuringly. "I know. But this is something that I have to keep to myself. There's no way I could ever make anyone understand. But, don't get me wrong, Neji. I trust you more than anyone."

Neji just glared at her and looked back into the water. "You're bound to get caught one of these days," he said quietly.

"Well, I won't let it happen. No one can ever find out." Her heart rate quickened at the thought of someone other than Neji finding out what has been going on.

_What if he's right? What if I really _do _end up getting caught? Tsunade would kill me for sure. All of my friends would think I've betrayed them. And Kiba would think that… Neji can't be right. I just won't let it happen. Ever._

Hinata honestly didn't know how long this was going to go on. It was Monday, and for all she knew, Itachi would quit on her tomorrow. It could never end. But she didn't know, for there was no telling what would happen in the near future. Itachi could kill her that night.

But that obviously wasn't possible.

Itachi was… well, nice. Maybe he killed everyone he knew, maybe he didn't regret it, but he had grown into a caring young man that no one knew about. All she knew was that there had to be a better reason for the killing of his clan, as she had thought before, although there was no good reason to do such a thing in her mind. But he wasn't the dark, evil type. Of course, if you didn't know him, then he did seem dark and evil. But Hinata talked to him every Tuesday. This S-Ranked criminal was willing to make her an amazing ninja. And she knew that for a fact. He was not lying.

"Well, Hinata," said Neji, snapping her out of her trance, "I hope you're right. I hope you never get caught. I wouldn't want to see you in any form of trouble again. Just be careful." Neji stood up and ran away before Hinata could say anything else to him.

"Okay, I will," she answered Neji's request quietly to herself. It's true, he wouldn't understand. There was no way she could make him, and that went for everyone else. What if she was seen leaving town every Tuesday night? It would mean nothing but trouble.

But, Hinata refused to let that happen.

That afternoon went by rather quietly for a while. Hinata ended up spending the majority of the day all alone in a peaceful and happy Konoha. The kids were out of class from the academy and were running around happily. Naruto was with Jiraiya, and they were arguing as usual.

"How many times must I tell you? Do NOT call me Pervy Sage!"

"Well, it's TRUE, Pervy Sage!"

"AUGH! Naruto!"

As they walked by, Hinata laughed to herself. Naruto and Jiraiya were so much alike, and two Narutos… well, that's how it was with them.

Hinata sat on a bench by the academy looking at all the trees in front of her and the busy townsfolk walking by on the cobblestone path, Naruto and Jiraiya's angry argument fading in the distance. She drew in a deep breath and closed her eyes. Everyone walking by her had a companion with them. But Hinata preferred to be alone a lot of the time. She felt oddly pleased as she sat alone, letting her mind wander wherever she wanted it to. And it felt good to be alone after all this time of having someone with her at all times.

The sunset was falling upon the horizon. The sky was a lovely mix of purple, pink, and orange. It was about time to go home.

As she stood up and began walking down the path, she heard a familiar, kind voice calling her.

"Hinata!"

Hinata turned around to see a girl with long pink hair and emerald eyes running to catch up to her. Hinata stopped in her tracks to let Sakura get to her.

"Hey," said Sakura, out of breath. "What's up?"

"Oh, hey, Sakura," said Hinata nicely. "Um, I'm just about to head home. What about you?"

"I have to go to the hospital and work the night shift," said Sakura. "Can I walk you home, though?"

Hinata was slightly shocked by Sakura's invitation. "Um, sure."

Sakura smiled at Hinata and they began walking down the path together. "So where had Kiba and Shino been? I haven't seen them in a while."

"Oh, they're on a mission. They've been gone for a while."

"I see." Sakura adjusted her headband. "Why aren't you with them?"

Hinata shrugged. "I'm not sure, Lady Hokage just wanted Shikamaru with them. He is really smart. Besides, I'm… not up for a mission."

"Oh yeah? Why's that?"

Hinata sighed, wishing that Sakura wouldn't ask so much. As much Hinata liked her, she didn't want to say anything that might portray what she and Itachi were doing every Tuesday night. "Well, I'm just… not feeling very well… I… have a cold." That's when she remembered that Sakura was a medic.

"Ah, I have some great medicine for a cold." Sakura pulled out a package of pills. "Here, these work like a charm."

Hinata took the pills from the medical kunoichi. "Thank you, Sakura. This should help." She smiled and put the package in her pocket.

Soon they arrived at Hinata's house. "Well, Hinata, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, hopefully. Visit me at the hospital sometime."

Hinata smiled at Sakura. "Thank you, Sakura. I will." With that, she ran inside her home.

Sakura kept her smile on until Hinata closed the door. Her expression changed from happy and polite to worried. _I wonder what's going on. She seems a little off today. Ever since I overheard that conversation that she and Neji had today, I can't stop worrying. And now I know that she tugs on her jacket every time she lies. And she lied to me about having a cold. She was about to say something that she'd regret. I can tell. She was about to let loose where she goes every Tuesday night. I wonder… Well, I guess I better keep my eye on her._ Sakura began her walk to the hospital. _I guess it won't be easy to see where she goes. Ever since I started the night shift, things have been really twisted. But no one in Konoha will let their comrade down. Or go missing. I won't let what happened to Sasuke happen to Hinata or anyone else. I simply won't let it…_

Hidan and Deidara's loud laughter could be heard all the way downstairs. It was maddening as usual. But it was something that everyone had to deal with if they were a member of the Akatsuki. Besides, they needed their skill.

It was Tuesday night, almost time to see Hinata. As Itachi slipped on his shoes and was about ready to leave, Kisame burst into his room, unexpectedly as usual.

He looked around and saw Itachi. "There you are," he said. He was wearing dark blue pajamas and shark slippers. He looked at a dressed up and ready-to-go Itachi. "Going somewhere?"

Itachi nodded. "Just for a walk."

Kisame smiled. "You and your walks. So, no movie tonight?"

"Perhaps another time, Kisame." Itachi walked past the tall, blue man and out his door. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Kisame nodded. "Tomorrow? You and your walks…" he said again.

Itachi smirked at Kisame, the only one he ever even smiled at, then began walking down the dark hallway and out the door.

"Wait, Itachi."

Itachi stopped in his tracks and turned to look at his best friend, who looked very concerned.

When Itachi said nothing, Kisame said to Itachi: "I know that it wasn't your choice to kill your clan, but… I'm still worried about you. I can't begin to imagine how hard it is to live with that."

Itachi looked away from Kisame. "I'm glad that you're concerned, Kisame, but I'm fine. That was the past."

Kisame frowned. "Well, just don't do anything wreckless…"

"Don't worry about me, Kisame. I won't do anything too wreckless."

"_Too_ wreckless?"

Itachi, annoyed, said to Kisame, "At least I don't have a shark for a girlfriend."

Kisame glared at Itachi before running back toward his room, yelling, "Kaito! Itachi never means ANYTHING he says about you!" The door slammed behind him.

Itachi couldn't help but laugh a little before using his teleporting jutsu to get to his and Hinata's waterfall. As usual, he was the first one there before the beautiful Hyuuga girl. He sat down beside the stream and looked into the reflecting water. _Hinata's improving fast. I've only been training her for three months… There is something very special about this one…_

Just in the midst of this thought, he saw a rustle in the trees. Out jumped a pale girl with long dark hair. She looked ready to train, as usual. Itachi stood up and jumped over the river to greet Hinata.

"Good evening," he said politely.

"Um, good evening to you too, sensei," Hinata said shyly.

A moment of silence passed as the Uchiha looked at the girl in front of him. She was special. Very special. He could tell from the moment he saw her. He didn't have good vision, thanks to his Mangekyou Sharingan, but for some reason, he could see her very clearly. It was like she was the red rose in all the white ones.

"Let's see how you've improved." Itachi quickly snapped himself out of his trance.

"Oh, right," said Hinata, who also seemed to have been zoned out. "Um, okay…"

Itachi watched her hop across the water and sit down cross-legged beside the river. She closed her pure white eyes and sat completely still, not moving a muscle.

The water current was slowing down, as if she was pausing time, almost. It became slower and slower until everything stopped. The waterfall had frozen, and the entire river had stopped as well.

Hinata heard the water current slowly come to a hault. She held it frozen for a minute or two, then let all her concentration drop, and she opened her eyes. The water continued trickling down the river.

As she stared down at the water, a smug smile spread across her face.

"Impressive," Itachi's voice broke the satisfied silence. "You just get better every time I see you."

Hinata looked up at him from the other side of the current. He looked emotionless as usual, and his voice was as well. But he had meant what he said. He hopped across the water and sat beside her.

"You definitely have what it takes to be a great kunoichi someday. Anyone can tell. In fact, you're probably ready to create your own jutsu"

Her heart beat with delight. Her own jutsu? She really was making a lot of progress.

"Well, um, it's all thanks to you," she said, blushing. "I… really couldn't have done it without you."

"Actually, you could've," said Itachi back. "Everyone in Konoha cares about their comrades more than other villages I've seen… Even their Jinchuuriki. Naruto…"

"You're right," said Hinata. "But, I guess… I guess that they don't have time to set aside for me. Besides, it seems like everyone's been assigned a mission but me." After all, the Hokage still didn't quite trust her. "Besides, not everyone can tell that I've improved. My father, for one… He just thinks I'm a worthless, weak burden on the whole town."

Itachi let a sigh escape his lips. "You're not the only one. Many parents don't see the goodness in their children. They only seem to care whether they're an excellent shinobi or not. All those with loving, unselfish parents these days… well, they're lucky. Really lucky."

A moment of silence passed. Hinata was beginning to wonder what Itachi's life had been like before he became a missing-nin. All she knew was that he was the pride of the Uchiha clan, and that everyone looked up to and respected him. Hinata, as a young child, had also known about him. Her family respected him, as well.

But Hinata didn't know he had it so hard. So, was his father just like hers?

Maybe she would find out another time.

"Anyways, let's begin," said Itachi in the midst of Hinata's pondering.

"Um, right. Let's start."

Training went well. When it was time to leave, Hinata had become stronger, as she always was when she left the next Tuesday.

"Hinata," said Itachi before she disappeared into the trees.

"Yes, sensei?"

Very seriously, Itachi said; "Don't listen to anything your father says. You're a great ninja, and you shouldn't let him put you down all the time. Someday, he'll see your greatness."

Hinata felt her cheeks flush. "Th-thank you, Itachi."

"Well, goodnight, Hinata. I shall see you next time?"

"Yes, see you then, sensei."

And with that, he disappeared.

Hinata began her detour through the trees back to Konoha. _Is it true? Does Itachi really CARE about me? I had no idea he was so kind and caring. Well, I've learned a lot about him in the past months, but I still have so much to learn about him. He makes me feel so… so…_

Hinata stopped on a tree branch to think for a minute.

_I… might as well admit it to myself. I can't just pretend anymore. Itachi Uchiha, the man that killed his clan, the most feared missing-nin of all. I just can't deny this feeling anymore._

_I am in love with Itachi Uchiha._


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey I'm baaaackck! WHOOP! I'll try my best to write diligently, but I'm also writing another fanfiction, ya know? AND... I've had a really stupid inspiration for a humor fanfic... that is really dumb, but hey, don't bite my head off! ...Please? *Gets head bitten off anyway* OUCH!**

**Anyways, I apologize for the shortness-**

**Deidara: GOSH! Can't you hurry it up already, un? I want to make a second appearance, un. :)**

**Me: Holy shit, can you be patient for once! ... UN!**

**Deidara: Hey, un. Shut your pie-hole. I can't help it, un... AUGH!**

**Me: YOU shut YOUR pie-hole... Oh, and yes, I apologize for the shortness... I'm just not in a very serious mood right now (as you can tell ^_^)**

**Deidara: YOU WON'T END THE WHOLE F*CKIN' STORY, WILL YOU, UN?**

**Me: NO! DON'T BE A STUPID IDIOT! I'm only silly RIGHT NOW... I was just reading a humor fanfic, so yeah. Anyways, enjoy the shortness that I have added! ^_^  
**

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The last of the pills fell into Itachi's hand. As he popped them into his mouth, he made a mental note to tell Pein for a new prescription. It was a pain to have to take medication everyday, knowing that it was the only thing that really kept him alive. But he couldn't die. Not yet. He had to wait for his brother to avenge him.

And he had one more motivation to stay alive.

At this thought, Itachi stood up from his bed and began pacing back and forth in his room.

I can't show Hinata my feelings for her. It wouldn't be right to just lead her on then all of a sudden get killed. Besides, she has a boyfriend… Ugh, I never thought that this would happen again. After all that… But what can I do? It's not like I can control it, or anything. Besides, I promised that I would train her until she became a great shinobi, which she really already is… But I don't want to have to be separated from her…

They had been training together for seven months, now. Over half a year.

I should have known that this would happen… he thought angrily.

And everyday his vision became worse, but he could see Hinata perfectly. It MUST have meant something, although he wasn't sure what.

He wanted to talk to Kisame about it, but knowing Kisame, he would tell everyone before Itachi could stop him. Should he just go and talk to him anyways? It wasn't even a very good idea to begin with.

However, all his pacing had somehow taken him outside his own room and in front of Kisame's door. The next thing he knew, he was ringing the fish-shaped doorbell, and the fake fish hanging outside his door began to sing: "Under the sea! Under the sea! Darling, it's better, down where it's wetter, take it from meeeee!"

Itachi rolled his eyes as the door in front of him opened. There stood Kisame.

Before he could say anything, Itachi looked at Kisame and motioned to the still-singing fish. "What the hell?"

Kisame looked at it. "Oh, yeah! I attached it to the doorbell. Pretty awesome, huh?"

"Under the sea! Under the sea!"Itachi winced at it's heinous voice. "Turn it off before I go crazy," he said coolly.

Kisame sighed and pressed a button underneath the doorbell. "Well, there you go. So, what's up, Itachi?"The Uchiha hesitated before saying, "I have to talk to you."

Kisame raised his eyebrow and moved aside for Itachi. He walked into Kisame's room as the door shut behind him. Half of his room was taken up by a hammerhead shark's fish tank, and everything was blue. Itachi stared at the shark before going to sit on Kisame's water bed.

"Okay," said Kisame, sitting down beside Itachi. "So, talk to me." He whipped out a bottle of purple nail polish and began painting his nails. It was slightly awkward, but since everyone in the Akatsuki were required to have purple nails, Itachi didn't think too much of it.

"Well," said Itachi. "First of all, if you say anything to anyone, then I'll suffocate Kaito over there." Itachi nodded his head at the shark swimming around in it's aquarium.

Kisame gulped. "Okay, I'll shut my trap, then."

Itachi looked up at the ceiling. "Okay, so there's this girl-"

The second he said the word "girl," Kisame went hysterical, just like he had suspected. The blue man jumped up from his bed and gawked at his friend. "What? A girl? But- I mean- just- really?" He jumped up and down like a thrilled little girl. "I have to tell Deidara about this!" Kisame headed towards the door.

"Wait, what?" Itachi ran over to Kisame, who was now opening the door and yelling "Deidara! I have to tell you-"

The Uchiha tackled him away from the door. "Hey, shut up!" He was yelling. Kisame struggled as he was thrown onto his bed.

"HEY!" he yelled angrily at a furious Itachi. "NOT FAIR!" He took Itachi by his collar and pulled him down, inches away from himself, just as Deidara walked into the room, saying, "Kisame? What is it, unh?"

There was an awkward silence as Deidara stood in the doorway staring at the two men, that were in a very awkward position. "What are you doing?" Deidara briefly paused before stretching out the word "doing" in a very sick manner.

Both Kisame and Itachi shot up from their awkward position and said, "This is NOT what it looks like!"

"Kisame has a girlfriend," said Itachi.

Kisame nodded. "And so does Itachi," he smugly added.

Deidara looked puzzled. "Wait, what? He does?"

"Mangekyou Sharingan!"

Kisame looked into Itachi's red eyes and was immediately caught into his genjutsu. He flopped over on his bed, now out-cold. Both Deidara and Itachi stared down at him before Itachi looked at Deidara and said, "He's lying," and walked out of Kisame's room and back into his without another word.

Hmm… Deidara thought. Maybe that's what Kisame wanted to tell me. Weird, I can't imagine Itachi really having a girlfriend. It seems like he doesn't want anyone to know… Hehe, I think I'm just going to keep my eye on him for a while.

Naruto was slurping his ramen very noisily and impolitely, as usual, while plotting a way to get Kakashi Sensei to take off his mask. "Maybe, he takes it off at night. So if I could just slip inside his window and just take a peek-"

"NARUTO!" Sakura punched him on the head. Their usual behavior.

"I think it's a good idea," stated Kiba. "Hey, take a picture while you're there. I want to see what he looks like, too."

Naruto was rubbing his head. "SEE? It's one of Konoha's greatest mysteries! Admit it, Sakura, you want to see, too!"

Sakura just giggled and shook her head. "Naruto… Do you remember the last time we tried this? He was just wearing another mask."

"Really? Another mask?" Kiba said, dumbstruck.

Their conversation went on, but Hinata wasn't listening. Her and the other three were at Ichiraku's, the best ramen in all of Konoha. Hinata found herself in her own world, wondering what he was doing at the moment. Lately, He was the only thought on her mind, and she couldn't avoid any of it.

If I get found out, I'm in trouble. I mean, and what about Kiba? I still like him, but things are different, now. I don't want him to find out, especially. That would be terrible. Man, why did I even ask him to train me in the first place? I should have known that something like this would happen. I should have known on the first day! Maybe I should stop… No, I can't do that. It's impossible. I just can't NOT see him… I mean, if I were separated from him-

"Hinata? HinATA?" Naruto was yelling her name in a singsong voice and leaning over Sakura to wave his hand in her face. "Hinata, are you feeling alright?"

"Oh!" Hinata shook her head, startled. "Um, I think I have a headache," she said, flushing red (which was thankfully more convincing to all of them). "I… should probably go."

The young Hyuuga stood up and started outside from Ichiraku's when Kiba grabbed her wrist. "Hinata, let me and Akamaru take you home," he said with a soft smile.

Hinata smiled back. Kiba was wearing that smile where she just wanted to grab his face and pull it towards hers into a big, French kiss. But she had never admitted this to anyone. "Okay, that would be nice." Instead of popping him one on the lips, she pulled him towards her into a soft, comforting hug. She drew in a deep breath through her nose, enjoying every second of it…

But also thinking of Itachi. And what it would be like if it were him in her arms.

She shivered and, gently as she could, pulled away from her boyfriend. Akamaru barked from behind them.

"Ah! There you are, boy!" Kiba walked over to Akamaru and patted him on the head before straddling him. "Hop on, Hinata."

Hinata ran over and climbed on Akamaru's back behind Kiba. "See you later," she yelled to Sakura and Naruto before Akamaru barked again and ran into the stillness of the night.

Hinata leaned tiredly on Kiba as she hugged him tight, trying not to fall off of Akamaru. But before she knew it, they were back at her house.

Kiba lept off of Akamaru's back and smiled at his dog. "Good boy, Akamaru." Akamaru barked and jumped up to give Kiba a big sloppy kiss on his cheek, nearly knocking Hinata off. Kiba laughed. "Down, boy!" Akamaru obeyed as Kiba walked over to Hinata and took her waist. He lifted her off of the large, white dog and put her on the ground.

"Well, I hope you feel better, Hinata," Kiba told her. He wrapped one arm around her shoulder as he walked her over to her porch. The Hyuuga hung her head to the ground in silence as they approached the porch. Kiba walked her all the way up the steps and to the front door before taking both of her hands in his. Hinata looked up into his beautiful eyes, blushing as a small smile graced her lips.

As for Kiba, he loved the way she would timidly look up at him through her eyelashes. It was so adorable!

So upon seeing this, Kiba leaned in towards her and kissed her on her porcelain cheek. As he pulled away, he nodded politely at her. "Goodnight," he said.

Hinata nodded back at him. "Goodnight. Thank you for taking me home."

"Oh, no problem," the boy said with a carefree wave of his hand.

Hinata smiled as the young brunette hopped off of her porch and giddily ran over towards his large white dog. "Good boy, Akamaru!" His faint voice sounded in the distance.

Hinata couldn't help but smile (he was adorable!) as he faded into the night. She watched until he disappeared before letting out a long, troubled sigh.

But she couldn't stop the adrenaline rush as she scurried over to the doorway leading inside. It was almost 9:00. She didn't want to be late for… you-know-what.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey, sorry it took so long! I'm just having so much fun with my other fic, that I kinda lost that "I MUST WRITE" feeling for this story. TT-TT But I will do my best to write diligently with this story. I want to get to the juiciness already!**

**So I'm sorry! Just don't kill me! Here it is, already! Enjoy! ^_^  
**

* * *

A chakra rush fell over a young Hyuuga, slowly drifting off to sleep in his bed… but nothing had happened.

Not a good thing, either.

Neji popped his right eye open just to see a figure swiftly leaving his room, shutting the door behind. This could only mean one thing.

Hinata was doing it… again.

This woke the young man instantly. He shot out of bed and rushed outside his room. He stood silently in the hallway as an unaware Hinata made her way back down the hallway to her own room. Furious, the Jounin followed her silently as ever and peeked through her door, only to see the curtains of her window flowing with the chilling breeze.

This was more suspicious than ever. The previous time her little jutsu didn't work, it was also on a Tuesday. And what are the odds that the jutsu wouldn't work TWICE on Tuesday? And both times, Neji felt her chakra going towards the entrance gate to Konoha. Also, 9:00 was the time where the guards switched shifts. In other words…

Hinata was leaving every Tuesday.

_But WHY?_ Neji pondered.

Well, there was only one way to figure this all out.

Follow Hinata.

As Hinata leapt through the trees of the forest, she thought she felt a chakra, following closely behind her. Abruptly, she stopped on a branch and turned swiftly to throw a kunai in the direction.

Nothing seemed to happen.

_Oh, shit! She knows I'm here! Just please, Hinata. Please don't-_

"Byaakugan!"

_Transform!_

Hinata looked in the direction of the chakra. But all she saw was a sorry-looking sparrow, perched on the branch. It flapped its wings and flew off with a chirp.

Hinata sighed in relief, turning off her Byaakugan. She was just being paranoid… right?

Neji was following, looking through the tree tops, disguised as a sparrow. Well, Hinata was much more alert than before. Did her disappearances have anything to do with it?

Right after he had asked this question in his head, it was answered.

There was a clearing, very lovely, with a silver waterfall, turning into a beautiful river. Surrounding all that was green and grassy, with occasional flowers here and there.

But Neji wasn't exactly paying attention to the surrouding, when right in the middle was Itachi Uchiha.

_Oh, shit. Hinata is in trouble!_ Neji swooped down and flapped his sparrow wings until they were perched on the branch of a tree, close to the clearing.

The most puzzling thing happened.

Hinata jumped right into the clearing and looked at Itachi, like she had seen him everyday in Konoha. Itachi gave her the same look before jumping to the other side of the river, where Hinata stood.

"Hinata, I have something to tell you."

WHAT? Neji almost yelled.

Good thing he was transformed into a sparrow.

"Yes, sensei?"

Sensei, SENSEI!

Itachi looked into her eyes. "This is dangerous."

Hinata nodded. "I-I know…"

"Okay, good." Itachi now looked up into the skies. "Hinata, I want you to stay in Konoha. I don't want you to get in trouble. If you get figured out, you know what that means, right?"

Hinata nodded. She would have to leave all her friends and family… and join the Akatsuki.

Hinata shrugged. "It… doesn't matter to me…" The Hyuuga blushed and fiddled her fingers.

"Well, it does to me." Itachi looked at the young teenager sternly. "Look, I believe that you could have become a great ninja without my help. Everyone in Konoha cares about you enough to make you a wonderful shinobi."

Hinata stared wide-eyed back at him. "Does that mean… you won't train me anymore?" Her voice was higher than usual.

"Hinata. It's for your own good. I… I… care… about you." The Uchiha seemed to have a hard time saying this.

Hinata blinked. "Really?"

Itachi was now looking away, eyes closed, eyebrows furrowed. It looked a lot like Sasuke's usual expression when he talked to Naruto, annoyed. "Why else would I have trained you this whole time? It's been almost a year…" Now Itachi turned his head to harshly look back at her. "And I was foolish to keep this up this whole time. I mean, it's only a matter of time before you're figured out. Hinata, you can't keep on training with me.""But!" Hinata was beginning to panic. "I couldn't have become so great without you! My father would still tell me to be more like my cousin, I would still be the worst ninja in Konoha, I wouldn't know my own chakra type-"

And then, as suddenly as ever, Itachi leaned into her, closed his eyes, and pressed his lips against hers.

That's right, he kissed Hinata.

Hinata's eyes were wide open at first, but then she slowly closed them as the kiss became more intense.

And holy cow, were they FRENCH KISSING!

Neji was frozen. It was all he could do to keep his sparrow form as he gawked at his innocent, shy cousin, kissing an S-Ranked criminal. That was also, what, nine years older than her, Neji guessed?

_Oh, f*ck._

That was the only thing running through the Jounin's head.

It was the best feeling in the world. How else could she explain it?

She was actually kissing him. HE had WANTED to kiss her.

He CARED about her, and he had admitted it.

It wasn't her first kiss, of course, but she had felt that same rush, as if it were.

Her first kiss went a little like this…

Hinata was gone. Lost somewhere out there in the wilderness. In the confusing trees.

Kiba was hysterical and frustrated, pacing back and forth. Naruto and Shino, and Akamaru just sat by the fire stared at him furiously stomping beside the river bank.

"Kiba, you haven't eaten in days. Care for some fish?"

Kiba looked back at the Aburame. "I can care less. The problem here is that our TEAMMATE is missing! We shouldn't just be sitting around like this! We should, oh, I don't know… go and LOOK for her?"

Shino creepily stared back through his shades. "We will." Akamaru walked up behind Shino, and just stood there, looking at his fish. Then the white dog slowly leaned forward over his shoulder and snatched the fish out of Shino's hands with his mouth. "Augh! Akamaru, go and find your own!" But it was too late, for the dog had swallowed it whole, and was now playfully tackling Shino, licking him all over with his large tongue. "Disgusting! Get off! Get off!"

Naruto laughed. "Good boy, Akamaru!"

Normally Kiba would be laughing with them, but he was stricken with worry for his teammate. The three idiots stopped tackling, yelling, and laughing and stood up, deciding that this really was a serious situation.

"Now let's go and find Hinata!" Naruto determinedly stated.

The next thing the young Hyuuga knew, she was laying in the hospital, rather sore all over. Piercing pains ran throughout her fragile body, and head. As her eyes drew open, the room seemed to spin like crazy.

"Hinata? Hinata!" A voice echoed. It sounded familiar. Even though any sound sent a terrible pain throughout her head, she replied weakly, "Kiba?" Then she looked over to see a blurry, yet familiar character beside her hospital bed.

"Ah, thank God you're okay," he said, sounding relieved. The young man gently took her right hand in both of his. "I was worried about you."

Hinata winced. "What happened?"

"We found you nearly dead in the forest on our mission. You were kidnapped by some weirdo. Don't worry, we were able to kill him off. And we completed the mission as well." Kiba was now crouching over Hinata, so that he was straight in her field of vision. "But what really matters is that you're okay. I don't want to lose you like that again, so I think it's time for me to tell you something." He brushed her cheek with his hand. "Hinata, I love you."

Then he was kissing her. Hinata winced, and Kiba pulled away.

"Oh, sorry. That was kind of thoughtless," he said with a nervous smile on his face.

"No, Kiba. It was… a good kind of pain." Then Hinata suddenly felt better as she sat up and gently pulled his face back to hers, into a passionate kiss.

And Hinata had never felt better in her life.

Except the moment she kissed Itachi. Now this was the best moment of her life.

It seemed to last forever, until Itachi gently pulled away, his arms still wrapped around her. The young Hyuuga noticed that he was eyeing the forest suspiciously (not the side Neji was on, but the other side). Then he looked back over at her. "I have to go." As he pulled away from her, Hinata couldn't help but notice how his hand grazed past her right breast. Her heart was pounding like crazy.

"Wait, Itachi," Hinata said. Itachi looked back at her.

"Yes?" He asked.

"Um, did that mean… that you would continue training with me?" Hinata was nervously fidgeting.

Itachi solemnly nodded his head, making Hinata rather happy. She smiled and, before she could stop herself, threw herself at him into a big hug. Shocked, Itachi loosely hugged back before she let go.

"Thank you, sensei."

"You know you don't have to call me that," Itachi stated.

Hinata blinked. "Oh, okay. Sorry."

"It's fine, Hinata. Have a good night."

Then he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Hinata just stood there for a while, looking at where he stood when he had disappeared. She desparately wished that he hadn't killed his clan, and had stayed in Konoha. It wouldn't be as much of a problem, then. They could still train together and it would be no secret. They could be together if they wanted to, instead of having to go their separate ways in the forest every time.

So why had he killed the clan? Hinata had no idea. But he didn't seem like the type to do such a thing.

There had to be a reason.

But as far as Hinata was concerned, she just couldn't wait until next time.

* * *

**Kay, so I hope it was somewhat worth the wait. So like I said, I shall do my best to upload faster! I apologize for taking so long. And also, thanks to everyone who reads/reviews. You guys rock! ^_^**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey, look who's finally back :) I finished writing my super addicting fanfic, so I've decided to quit making you all wait forever, because it was kind of rude of me not to write for all those months! :( So here's your Christmas present. It'll get wayy better as the story goes on! Trust me. Okay, enjoy this long-awaited chapter!**

* * *

It was in the middle of the afternoon. Broad daylight.

So what was Hinata Hyuuga doing lying on her back on her bed, staring up at the ceiling?

Well, you can imagine that there was a lot on her mind.

She couldn't help but wonder if it was one of those dangerously realistic dreams. Where the next day no one knows what the hell you're talking about, because it didn't actually happen. But you thought it did.

However, her question was soon answered as she heard her door open then slam again. Hinata sat up quickly, startled by the sudden noise, only to see her cousin Neji, looking as grouchy as ever.

Before Hinata could ask what was wrong, Neji said, very seriously: "We need to talk."

Hinata sighed and swung her legs off her bed so that Neji could sit beside her. He stormed over and sat down at the foot of it and said nothing. He just stared at his cousin, who nervously stared back.

"A-Are you okay?" Hinata asked, intimidated by his terrifying facial expression that made Satan look like a cute little fairy.

Then, he said two words: "I know."

Hinata felt an electric shock run through her body. He knew what? It couldn't be…

"W-what are you talking about, Neji?" She asked as innocently as she possibly could.

"Don't even pull that with me, cousin," Neji said. "You know that I can tell when you're lying."

Hinata looked down at her fidgety fingers tugging at her purple jacket. She quickly let go of it.

I know. The dreaded words echoed over and over in her head.

There was a very intense silence in the air as the two cousins stared at one another, Hinata wearing a shocked expression while Neji's white eyes were on fire.

Finally, the young man broke the extremely loud silence. "I've suspected that something was going on for a while. I mean, you lied more and this whole year you haven't 'felt good' and there was this emptiness in your eyes. Like something in Konoha was missing."

Neji narrowed his flaming eyes. "Something like a certain S-Ranked criminal, Itachi Uchiha."

Hinata hiccupped and held her breath, along with the tears that were starting to prick in her eyes. Do NOT cry, she told herself over and over again in her head as Neji glared at her.

"Do you realize how serious this is?" Neji was beginning to yell. "You're betraying Konoha! Even if you don't realize that getting special training from an Akatsuki member is betrayal. It is! And you KNOW better! And what was THAT! You have a boyfriend, Hinata! I swear to God that you will go to HELL!"

Neji kept on yelling at Hinata who was doing everything in her power to hold the tears in her large white eyes.

"He's like, nine years older than you! Hinata, how long has this even been going on? If Lady Tsunade finds out, you can get penalized by imprisonment for life, or, although the chances are very slim, death!"

Hinata perked up then looked helplessly at her cousin. "Are you going to tell Lady Tsunade?"

"Um, yeah. I am!" Neji said. "What else am I supposed to do? Just sit back while you go and French kiss some rogue Konoha ninja?"

Now, the young girl couldn't restrain herself. Tears began spilling down her cheeks, but Neji didn't really seem to notice or care.

"How long did you think you could keep this up, anyways? It was completely clueless and ignorant of you to even think that you could keep doing this without getting caught?"

"I've kept it up for a year," Hinata said in a shaky voice.

Neji stopped rattling. "What?"

"I said, I've kept it up for a year, now. A little over."

Neji's jaw dropped.

"Don't even say anything." Hinata's voice was breaking as she spoke and twisted her long violet hair in her hands. "I was desparate. I wasn't good enough for anyone. I was the worst ninja in all of Konoha." The Hyuuga looked up at the ceiling. "But then Itachi rescued me."

"He rescued you?" Neji asked incredulously.

"Hinata nodded her head. "Do you remember when I ran away?"

Neji nodded his head.

Hinata continued. "Well, somehow Sasuke had his Mangekyou Sharingan. I really have no idea how he got it. But I went outside of Konoha to train in the forest on my own when he attacked me. Then I woke up, and it turns out that Itachi had rescued me. So I asked him if he would train me." Hinata looked very seriously at her shocked cousin. "And look where that's gotten me."

"Just wait," Neji said without skipping a beat. "He'll do something evil and unnecessary, and you'll find out that he was using you all along."

"Using me for WHAT!" Hinata wailed, a fresh flow of tears streaming down her face. Her voice was starting to get high and squeaky with hysteria. It sounded so ridiculous that it could've been laughable, but this was a serious situation. "I just wanted to please father for ONCE because I'm such a burden to EVERYONE! And he was so willing to take me under his wing that he would risk it as well!  
You heard him say he cared about me! I could see the truth in his eyes! I could feel the passion in his kiss! It was all real!"

"What about your teammates!" Neji roared. "What about your boyfriend?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Hinata had never been more stressed, angry, and frustrated in her whole life, she didn't think. "I TOLD you I couldn't tell you! I TOLD you that I had to keep it to myself!"

"You're betraying us ALL!" Neji yelled.

Hinata made a weird sound like a bloody-murder scream, a hiccup, and a sob all mixed together before stamping her foot and storming over to the door.

"WHERE ARE YOU GOING!" Neji stood up from her bed.

"I'LL JUST JOIN THE AKATSUKI THEN!" Hinata opened her door.

But before she could walk out the door, she felt a strong hand wrap around her wrist.

"Hinata, I'm worried about you," Neji's softened voice said behind her.

Hinata let herself fall against his body while she shook with hushed sobs.

"I'm so lost," she said. "I don't know what to do."

Neji hugged his cousin in that position for a long time, and she never stopped crying. His vest was sopping wet, but he didn't really notice. He just thought. Did Itachi have some sort of plan and was using Hinata? I mean, why else would he agree to training her. But she had a point. About the kissing. It really WAS real. Hideous, but with real passion.

Ooh! MAYBE!

Maybe he HAD had a plan and was going to use Hinata, but then he got attached to her and decided to give up? That was now Neji's theory.

As he thought about this, he heard footsteps up the hall, getting closer to Hinata's room. Before he could do anything, the door opened, and there stood Hiashi.

"I'm back…" He trailed off. Seeing Neji hugging Hinata, who had tears like waterfalls dripping out of her eyes was a very weird sight.

Hinata and Neji both looked up at Hiashi, who was awkwardly standing in the doorway, looking at his nephew and daughter. A gay baby was born.

"What happened?" Hiashi asked incredulously, narrowing his white eyes.

"Hinata's just stressed about her training," Neji quickly replied.

Hinata looked up, and drew in an awkward breath before tugging away from Neji's arms and facing the wall, away from her father.  
Oh, no… she thought as she heard his footsteps walking toward her.

Suddenly, they stopped directly behind her, and he said just as Hinata had predicted. "A ninja must never show his tears, no matter what he's going through. Remember that, Hinata."

"Y-Yes, sir."

And then he was gone.

**/3**

It was Tuesday afternoon. Beautiful day, but guess what Itachi was doing?

Staring up at his ceiling from his bed.

Ironic, isn't it?

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Itachi sighed, not in the mood for any visits. "What?" he said in a loud voice.

"It's Deidara, un," said a familiar voice, muffled by the door. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah, sure," Itachi said reluctantly.

The door opened, and in stepped Deidara, his face drawn up into a giddy grin. "I. Cannot. Believe it." He enunciated every word as if Itachi was a young child that spoke a foreign language.

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "What in the name of hell are you talking about, Deidara?" he asked crossly.

Deidara let loose a giggle. "So you're seeing some chick from Konoha, un?" he said smugly. He began to giggle madly.  
_  
WTF! How does he know!_ Itachi thought. Instead of saying this out loud, the Uchiha asked a simple question. "Are you high?"

Deidara shut the door and tiptoed over to his bed, as if he didn't want anyone to know he was there, and sat quietly on Itachi's bed, that evil, smug expression still glued on his face. "I know," he said in a hushed voice. "I saw, un."

"What do you know?" Itachi asked. Maybe he was possibly thinking about something else...? Just maybe?

Deidara's answer said no, he wasn't thinking of anything else. "That Hyuuga girl from Konoha, un," he said, still quietly. "You kissed her! And you've been training with her for almost a year!"

Itachi blinked. Then he remembered that presence of chakra he had felt that night. "You were the one in the woods? I felt your chakra..." he said.

Deidara nodded. "I knew you knew that I was there, un, because I had to disappear when you looked over. So, are you still seeing her? Are you still training!" Deidara was getting really excited.

Itachi just looked away. "I told her that it's dangerous, but she wouldn't listen. So, I had to tell her a lie."

Deidara's grin was instantly wiped from his face. "You told your woman a lie?" he asked, dumbstruck.

"I told her that I would keep training with her," Itachi said. "The thing is, I'm not going to show up tonight."

Deidara just stared at him as if he were staring at a train wreck. "What, un!" he said crossly.

Itachi shrugged and hopped out of bed. "It's for her own good. I want the best for her."

"But! But!" Deidara sputtered. "She wants to see you, un! Can't you tell that girl REALLY likes you!"

Itachi was now at the door, his hand on the doorknob. He turned and looked at Deidara, who was still sitting on Itachi's bed, looking like a deserted, homeless child. "She shouldn't be forced to leave her own village," Itachi said. Then he was gone.

Deidara pouted like a three year old. He would fix things up with the help of Hidan and Kisame.

**/3**

Hinata had been waiting forever for him. Maybe he had a mission. But he still wasn't there the next week, or the next, or the next.

Now Hinata knew that he was lying when he said that they'd continue training.

Would she ever see him again? She didn't know. But many months passed, and Hinata was almost convinced that he had disappeared right off the face of the earth. Just almost. But she couldn't accept it. She would do anything in her power to see him again. She made a solemn vow to herself that she would see him again, no matter once. Even if it were only for two seconds. She WOULD see him again.

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**Alright, I hope that it was SOMEWHAT worth the five million year wait. I'll upload as frequently as I can. But, as some of you may know, "IT" is still in session, and just at torturous as ever, with all the stupid homework that teachers give you over the break. Rude... Okay, please review! :D Thanks for being patient!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey, sorry the upload took so long... I've just had LOTS of work from my teachers, who obviously have NO MERCY ON THEIR POOR HELPLESS STUDENTS!**

**Okay, I'll quit whining. Just enjoy this chapter, I hope it's somewhat worth the wait :)  
**

* * *

Naruto was waiting impatiently outside of the Hokage's office door. He had been summoned there for some type of mission.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps and chatter. He turned his attention in the direction it was coming from, only to see Akamaru, Kiba, Shino, and Hinata. Kiba and Hinata was holding hands, and Akamaru was attempting to play with Shino.

"Back! Back, I say!" Shino was yelling frustratedly.

"Aww, but Shino, he just wants to play!" Kiba said with a laugh. Suddenly, his eyes met Naruto's. "Huh? You were called here, too?" he asked curiously.

"Yeah, for a mission, or whatever," Naruto responded. He looked at all of them for a moment, then remembered all the previous missions they had had together, which were all epic fails, and facepalmed. "You mean I have to go on a mission with YOU guys!" Naruto said in disbelief.

Hinata giggled as Kiba got defensive. "If it weren't for your idiotic-ness, then all our missions probably would have been successful, you twirp!"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME!" Naruto shrieked.

Just then, the door to Tsunade's office opened up. "Alright, I'm ready for you. Come on in," Tsunade hastily said.

Naruto gave one last, aggravated look at Kiba. "I'm rubber, your glue. Whatever you say bounces off me and sticks to you." Then he disappeared into Tsunade's office. Kiba followed, practically dragging Hinata behind. "And HOW old are we, Naruto?" he asked sarcastically as Hinata klutzily stumbled behind him. Then Shino walked in, who was followed by an excited Akamaru, who was now pouncing on Shino, attempting to knock him over, it seemed. "Augh! Get _off_, I say!" Shino yelled frustratedly. Tsunade stood at the door and sweatdropped. This was just a group of idiots. But she might as well give them one more shot as a team.

She walked back to her desk. "Okay," she said. For your mission, you have to deliver this scroll to Suna's Kazekage."

Naruto jumped up and down. "Sweet, we get to visit Gaara!" he said, snatching the scroll from the Hokage. Then he turned to his team. "Let's go, everyone!" he said, strolling over to the door.

"NARUTO, YOU DOBE! GET BACK HERE!" Tsunade yelled.

"But, Granny!" Naruto protested.

"No buts, get back over here this instant!"

Naruto pouted, but he slunk obediently back to Tsunade's desk. Tsunade held out her hand. "Give me the scroll," she ordered. Naruto reluctantly handed it back.

There was silence as Tsunade eyed them all seriously. "Now, I want to warn you that the Akatsuki is on the move."

Hinata's heart leapt.

"If you run into them, then I'll give you this scroll," she held up another one, "which has a summoning jutsu in it. It will summon Kakashi." She then gave both scrolls to Shino, who was the most responsible. "Okay, now just be very careful

"Great, we can take the Akatsuki!" Naruto said. "Now let's go!"

**/3**

By evening, they were all packed and ready to go. They started down a path that led to Suna. While everyone else was walking, Naruto the Idiot was running at full speed.

"What are you slowpokes waiting for!" Naruto yelled behind him once he realized no one was running at the speed of light like he was.

"We don't have to run, you know," Kiba yelled back. "It'll just waste our energy if we run into an enemy.

_If we run into an enemy_. What Kiba said stuck out in her mind like nothing ever had. She felt like she was getting her hopes up, because if they did run into an Akatsuki member, it probably wouldn't be Itachi. What were the odds? There were many members, and Itachi was only one of them. Hinata sighed. She felt like she had the worst luck of the century.

"Hinata! HINATA, SNAP OUT OF IT!" Suddenly, Naruto was obnoxiously waving his hand in front of her pale, white eyes. She shook her head and realized that all of them had stopped. Akamaru barked and gave her a wet kiss. Hinata giggled and scratched his ears.

"Are you okay? You seem a little spacey lately," Kiba pointed out.

"Lately? It's been a few months actually," Shino added, continuing his walk down the path. Everyone followed.

"S-sorry," Hinata said quietly to Kiba. "I don't know why I've been like this."

Kiba sighed and put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed her tight. Then he laughed. "Don't be such a worry wart, Hinata, it's not like I'm going to dump you." Then he kissed her on the cheek and flashed his pearly whites mischievously at her. Hinata gave a small smile back before the five of them continued in silence (well, Naruto was babbling about who knows what the entire time) until the sun began to set.

Suddenly, Shino, who was in the lead, stopped abruptly. Naruto crashed right into his back.

"AUGH!" Naruto yelled, falling over and hitting his head on the path. As he sat up, he groaned and rubbed his head. "SHINO, WHAT WAS THAT FOR!"

Shino said nothing. He just stared off into the sunset. No one knew what he was thinking, as his sunglasses covered his probably expressionless eyes.

"Shino? Are you okay?" Kiba asked, cocking his head to the side.

There was a long silence as the group waited for Shino to speak. Finally, after what seemed like billions of years, Shino spoke. "Do you ever wonder," he started, capturing everyone's attention, "if there's really a God watching over us?"

Everyone sweatdropped. Naruto stamped his foot. "Shino! What is this all about! We've got to get a move on!"

"Yeah!" Kiba yelled. "You can watch the sunset and ponder the meaning of life later!"

"We should set up camp," Shino said without turning to face his comrades, as though he had not just said something very odd and off topic.

**/3**

The tent was all set up now. It was a dark night, the full moon shone along with all the bright stars that dotted the sky. All four shinobi set up their sleeping bags and were snuggled warmly inside them.

"I'm not _that_ tired!" Naruto yelled obnoxiously.

"Well, the rest of us are! So go to bed... Oh my flip, are you serious?"

Kiba and Hinata, the only two awake, noticed that Naruto had fallen asleep right after he declared that he was wide awake.

Kiba rolled his eyes and facepalmed. "He's... special," he said. Then he leaned over and kissed Hinata on the cheek. "Goodnight," he said before lying back down.

"Goodnight," Hinata said with an amused giggle.

Soon, they were all asleep... except Hinata. She lied down on her back and stared up at the canvas ceiling. She didn't quite know what to think, but she felt like she had to empty her mind at the same time. Quietly, so as not to disturb her comrades, she slipped out of her sleeping bag and out into the night time air. She had to do what she always did when she was restless.

The Hyuuga walked over to a nearby clearing in the forest with a small pond surrounded by grass and flowers. This place had a perfect view of the moon. The full moon always made her think of her former sensei that she hadn't seen in ages. The full moon made her feel less alone, like a part of him was always watching over and protecting her. Still urging her to do her best and tell her that she was an excellent ninja.

She sighed then smiled up at the moon. Twirling her hair in her pale hands, she unzipped her jacket...

**/3**

"Itachi, are you alright?" Kisame asked, cocking his head at his friend.

Itachi nodded. "It's just... yeah, I'm fine," he said quickly and coolly.

Kisame smiled. "Fine, don't tell me," he said, looking dangerously smug.

Itachi sat up from the tree he was leaning against. "What are you suggesting?" Itachi asked suspiciously.

Kisame raised an eyebrow. He proceeded to cradle his head in his hands and stretch out his legs as he leaned against his own tree. "So, you're waiting for your girlfriend, aren't you?" he asked, closing his eyes.

In a fast, swift moment, Kisame was knocked out.

Itachi carelessly stuffed Kisame inside the tent they had set up and flicked his eyes suspiciously around. Was it just him, or did he feel that familiar presence? He kept trying to tell himself that he was crazy, obsessive. But for some reason, the feeling that she was close was so strong...

He walked deeper into the forest, not quite sure where he was headed. Just following where his feet were telling him to go. Maybe where his heart was telling him to go. The moon was getting closer. Itachi looked up at it. He saw it turn blood red. He heard Sasuke's screams and sobs. He felt the blood of his friends and family splashing on his face. The Uchiha closed his eyes, haunted by the fowl memory.

The next thing he knew, he was stepping into a clearing, then jumping right back behind a nearby tree in the forest. For atop the pond was a familiar silhouette, gracefully gliding and twirling across a pond. Her long, dark hair was swirling around her pale body, along with droplets of sparkling water that spun around her like glitter. Her expression looked distant and mysterious. It was her. Itachi couldn't stop staring in amazement.

Suddenly, she stopped. The water fell back to the pond and her hair settled down. Her eyes were suddenly darting around, alarmed. Then, she was gone in a flash.

Itachi wanted to hit his head against a tree. Had she seen him?

**/3**

"Hinata, get up, you lazy!" Naruto's voice was the very first thing she heard as Hinata was suddenly being violently shook by a pair of familiar hands.

Hinata groaned and sat up, rubbing her pale eyes. "G-good moring, Naruto..." she said tiredly.

"Hurry up, Hinata!" Kiba's voice suddenly sounded from outside the tent. "We gotta get a move on... HOLY!"

"What happened, Kiba!" Naruto was up in a flash, dragging the Hyuuga girl behind him. They rushed outside the tent. Kiba and Shino were grimacing, clutching their kunai and crouching in a ready position. Two familiar, careless looking figures stood before them.

The tall blue man smirked. "Well, well, looks like we've got a pretty interesting encounter, eh, Itachi?"

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**Hehe, I felt like I just HAD to throw Hinata's dancing in there :3 Anyways, it could take me a while to write next chapter since I'm not the best at... oh wait, I shouldn't give it away, lol. THE MORE REVIEWS I GET THE FASTER I'LL UPLOAD *hint hint* Besides, I could use feedback. Anyways, thanks for reading! :D**


	13. Chapter 13

**I'm soo sorry that it takes so long between uploads. This chapter is hardly worth the wait, but I wanted to hurry and get something up, lol. So try to enjoy! I'll give you cookies if you review! ;)**

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Hinata's eyes widened at the sight of her sensei that had abandoned her.  
_  
Is this really happening? I must be dreaming!_

"You little bastards," Kisame said with a smirk. "I wasn't expecting to see _you_ guys here. Itachi, I told you that we should've killed them off!"

Itachi just stared straight ahead with his usual poker face, not responding to Kisame.

Hinata looked over at the furious Kiba, Akamaru, and Naruto, and a ready-to-go Shino. Then her eyes whipped back to Itachi. Hinata felt slightly hot as she noticed he was staring intently at her, narrowing his eyes. _Bring it on_, his sharingan seemed to say in his calm voice.

Hinata stepped foreward in front of her comrades, spreading her arms protectively in front of them. She grimaced at her opponent.

"Huh? Hinata? What are you doing?" Naruto's confused voice sounded behind her.

"Yeah, Hinata! What do you think you're doing!" Kiba asked, aggravated. Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Let me take them," she said, her voice dangerously low.

"No way, that's happening! You'll get crushed if you won't let us help you!" Kiba yelled.

"I think I can handle it," Hinata said, slightly aggressively. "Don't tell me I can't do it!"

"Let her handle this alone," Shino's deep voice now joined in. "If she needs our help, then we'll give it gladly to her."

"But-"

"Let's just have faith in her. She'll be fine." Shino defended.

"Yeah, Kiba! Anyone can do anything they set their mind to. Believe it!" Naruto said before running up to Hinata to give her a shoulder massage. "You got this, champ," he said to her.

There was a short silence before Kiba finally gave in. "Fine," he said. "But Naruto, get back over here!"

Naruto's hands were suddenly off of her shoulders. "Whoa! Hey, Kiba! What was that for!" Naruto was now yelling.

"Interesting," an unexpected calm voice said. The three Konoha ninja looked up, nearly forgetting the enemies. Itachi was looking intently over at Hinata still before he stepped foreward. "Kisame, why don't you let me take this girl on?" It wasn't much of a question, more of a command.

"Should I take on the others?" Kisame asked, licking his lips. "How about the Jinchuuriki?"

Kiba frowned before stepping protectively in front of a psyched Naruto. "I'd like to see you try," Kiba growled as Akamaru joined him, growling as well.

"Go for it," Itachi said. "Just leave the girl to me."

Kisame smirked before turning to the three boys. Without hesitation, he ran towards the boys, swinging his sword dangerously around. "This is no sweat!" he remarked.

**/3**

Itachi narrowed his eyes. They spoke to Hinata.

_Now then, show me what you've got_, they said.

Hinata smirked. Thist was just like training. She leapt up high into the air, doing a front flip on the way up. She performed a series of hand signs.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"

Itachi heard something crashing through the trees until a furious dragon crafted of water was in front of him, ready to attack.

_I see_, Itachi thought, swiftly dodging the attacks. _She got the water from the nearby pond..._

The dragon whipped it's tail around, sending Itachi crashing into a hard tree.

_I can't use my fire jutsu to fight it off_, he thought, dodging another attack. He quickly devised a plan.

Hinata's Byaakugan was turned on. She once again sent a vulnerable Itachi crashing into another tree, this time pinning him against it. She completed another series of handsigns. "Water Prison Jutsu!" she yelled.

The dragon wrapped itself around Itachi, creating a water prison. _Wow, that takes a lot of skill_, he thought, looking up at the blurry image of the girl who had captured it. Just then, he disappeared in a cloud of white smoke.

"Huh? A shadow clone?" Hinata looked up with her Byaakugan to see Itachi, jumping out of a tree armed with a kunai. As he fell, he tossed the kunai at Hinata, who quickly defended it with her open palm. The next thing she knew, her and Itachi were immersed in a close combat battle. The Hyuuga's kekkei-genkai allowed her to see Itachi's vital chakra points. She clenched her teeth and jabbed her two fingers into his stomach. Unfortunately, before they were able to strike, Itachi snatched her wrist and kicked her in the stomach, sending her flying across the forest. Now it was her turn to crash into a tree. Hinata slid down the tree and fell to the floor. Her eyes temporarily closed until she felt a presence. She opened them and quickly stood up, dusting herself off.

The next thing she knew, Itachi had her pinned against the tree once again. He was standing so close to her, that his lips brushed her ear as he said to her, quietly as possible, "I'll see you tonight."

Then he was gone.

**/3**

Itachi walked back through the forest where he had left his comrade to fight the three boys. What he saw was Kisame, lying nearly unconcious on the ground, and the Jinchuuriki's eyes flashing a violent crimson red. He blinked, and his eyes turned back to a calm blue before they closed and he fell face first on the ground.

"Hey, Naruto!" Kiba yelled kneeling down next to his friend, Shino joining him. Kiba looked up and noticed Itachi. He frowned. "You'll pay for this!" he said furiously. "You'll never get Naruto!"

Itachi walked calmly over to his own friend and lifted his wet body over his shoulder. "Calm down," he told Kiba sullenly. "We were just leaving." And with that, the two Akatsuki members were gone in a puff of smoke.

Kiba sighed with relief. "Nice work Shino, Akamaru," he said patting his dog on the head. Akamaru gave him a sloppy wet kiss. Kiba smiled, then suddenly an expression of worry came about him. "What about Hinata?"

Shino suddenly stood up, picking up the unconcious Jinchuuriki bridal style. "I'll take care of Naruto for now," he said. "You go and find Hinata."

Kiba hopped on Akamaru's back. They bounded through the forest, searching intently. Kiba drew in a deep breath through his nose. Akamaru stopped, sniffing the air. Kiba looked down at his best friend. "Do you smell that, buddy?" Akamaru barked, as if to say yes. "It's Hinata! Come on, she's close!" Akamaru began to run in the direction his and Kiba's nose led them. Soon enough, the trees revealed Hinata, standing stiffly against a tree. Her pale eyes were widened in shock, and a cold bead of sweat dripped down her face.

Kiba quickly hopped off of Akamaru's back and ran over to Hinata. He stood in front of her, but she didn't seem to see him. It was as if she were looking straight through him. "Hey, Hinata," Kiba said, gently shaking her. She didn't move. "Hinata, it's me! Wake up!" He shaked her more aggressively, but she still looked frightened. _What did he _do _to her_! Kiba furiously thought, planting his lips on Hinata's pale ones. He pulled away from her after a few seconds, taking a good look at her. Now, she was looking tiredly at him before her eyes closed and she began to fall face first to the ground just as Naruto had. Kiba quickly held out his arm, catching her on her stomach. He facepalmed with his other hand. "Great, that's two of them now," he said glumly.

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**REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! And I'll post the next chapter!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Howdy :) Okay, I'm very aware of my short chapter, but I think that they'll start getting longer. So read and enjoy! :D**

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Hinata shyly peered from behind a tree. It had been so long since she had been alone with the former Konoha ninja.

"Hello, Hinata," said a familiar, empty voice. The voice startled her and she hid further behind the tree.

"Don't worry, it's just me," said the voice again. Suddenly, her hand was trapped in another, stronger hand that lead her out from behind the tree. The nervous Hyuuga found herself face to face with none other than Itachi Uchiha.

Itachi studied her nervous expression before saying, "I'm glad that you made it." He didn't look too glad about anything. Just empty and expressionless, as usual.

**/3**

The Hyuuga's white eyes drooped open, and she found herself back inside the tent with the boys she had set off with. It was dark, and they were all soundly sleeping. But now that she had woken, Hinata was wide awake, and it would be impossible for her to sleep now.

Quietly, she slipped out of her sleeping bag and into the cold night, leaving her comrades and the tent behind. She stood there, breathing in the fresh nighttime air when memories of that day suddenly filled her mind with remembrance of the day's events.

_I'll see you tonight,_ Itachi had said.

Hinata looked aimlessly around. Would he see her tonight? Where? How would she find him?

As if on cue, a black crow flew from the sky and perched carefully on Hinata's shoulder, startling her.

"Caa!" it said, cocking it's head at Hinata. She just stared blankly at the black crow. "Caa!"

Suddenly, it hit her. Itachi was summoning her! The crow flapped its wings and flew off of Hinata's shoulder and into the air. Hinata turned on her Byaakugan and ran after it, so she could keep her eyes on the crow and not run into any trees. Soon, it had lead her to the nearby pond that she had gone to the previous night. That's when she had found herself hiding behind a tree, and Itachi pulling her from her hiding place.

**/3**

Hinata looked down, not sure of what to say. She gulped.

"Are you frightened of me?" Itachi's voice suddenly asked. Hinata looked up at his emotionless face and hastily shook her head.

"N-no! I'm not! It's just... I-I haven't seen you in a long t-time..." Hinata said, fidgeting her fingers.

Itachi seemed to ignore her. "There's no reason to be frightened," he said, touching her shoulder. She looked back down again, but soon, his thumb and index finger were gently holding her chin and tilting her head up. Hinata looked into his Sharingan eyes. They were still completely blank, vacant, but in a way, they were... soft. "Let's sit down," he suggested. Hinata nodded her head and followed him to the edge of the pond.

The two shinobi sat side by side in silence for a what seemed like an eternity. Hinata stared into the gleaming waters of the pond. Why had he wanted to see her? Was there something he wanted to say?

"You did very well today," Itachi suddenly said, as if he were reading Hinata's mind.

Hinata looked up, startled by his voice. "Oh, thanks, you too..." she said quietly, staring back into the water.

"You attacked as though you meant to kill," Itachi continued. "Although our fight didn't last long, I can tell that you've made much progress." He looked at Hinata. "I told you that you were capable."

Hinata's face flushed pink. She hid her blushing face behind a curtain of her dark hair and continued to gaze into the pond. She couldn't think of anything to say.

"According to my father, I haven't made any progress at all." Hinata's own voice shocked her. Where had these words come from?

Itachi was silent. He just stared thoughtfully into the pond.

To Hinata's surprise, she continued to talk. "He always points out my flaws like I don't know that they're there. And when I fix them, then he just goes off to find something else that's wrong with me. It's like... like I can never be good enough for him." Hinata's mouth moved and the words spilled out as though she were possessed. She finally looked up and over at Itachi. Was it him doing this to her? Pushing all this information out of her? It had to be, for she had never poured out her feelings like this to anyone. _How is he doing that?_

"Don't listen to your father," Itachi suddenly said.

Hinata frowned. "B-but I only want to please my father..." she said quietly.

Itachi sighed. "Listen, Hinata," he began. "In this world that we live in, there are very few compassionate, supportive parents. Many are hard, and only care about their children getting stronger with every waking moment. Sometimes you can never impress them, no matter how hard you try." Itachi's eyes were filling with the ghost of his past. He looked up at the full moon and closed his Sharingan eyes. "Sasuke was once in the same boat as you, Hinata. Father paid little attention to him, but all little Sasuke wanted was to be seen by him. He trained his hardest and did everything he could to impress Father." Itachi paused to open his eyes. "It's hard to grow up without a father always at your side. Instead, you seem to get a man that only looks at you as his powerful weapon. And if you're not good enough for him..." Itachi stopped.

Hinata stared at Itachi. His story sounded like the exact same case with her, Neji, and Hiashi. Neji was the one that always got the attention and pride, while Hinata struggled to compete with his greatness.

"It was difficult to see Sasuke without Father ever even looking at him," Itachi stated. He narrowed his eyes. "He was so... pitiful. The look on his face every time Father passed by him carelessly..." Itachi left his sentence hanging as his eyes replayed his past life in the village.

"I remember when I was a genin," Hinata suddenly said. "My father would always pester me about missions, telling me not to be a burden on my team. Whenever we failed a mission, he would blame me." The words were still just jumping out of her mouth. "He still does. Nothing has changed since I became a chuunin. Every day I go into the woods and train. But he still doesn't seem to care that I'm working my hardest." Had she ever said this aloud to anyone? _He's doing it again..._ Hinata thought as she looked up at Itachi, who was looking calmly down at her. Suddenly, Hinata asked a very unexpected question. "Itachi-san, did you care about Sasuke?" The question was followed by the Hyuuga's pale hand flying to cover her mouth as she widened her white eyes. "I-I'm sorry, you told me not to mention Sasuke..." she said apologetically.

However, Itachi didn't seem to care. He just looked back up at the sky and said, "Hinata, my story is a long, complicated one. One that I can't ever explain to anyone." He looked back down at Hinata. "That is why, Hinata, this shall be the last time I visit with you."

Hinata widened her eyes even more. "R-really? Do you mean I'll n-never see you again?"

Itachi closed his eyes and solemnly nodded his head once. "Unless we cross paths on a mission again. But I won't have any one on one conversations with you again."

Hinata turned away from him. She didn't want him to see the sudden tears that had welled up in her eyes and were now spilling down her cheeks. Why was she so upset? _This is ridiculous_, she tried to tell herself, but it didn't help her much at all.

"Hey, are you alright?" Itachi's voice said gently from behind her.

Hinata tried to respond, but her mouth wouldn't open.

Suddenly, she felt his warm hand on her face, and she was staring into his eyes. Itachi ran his thumbs along the bottom of her eyes, wiping the ongoing waterfall away. "Hinata," he said quietly. He stared down at her flawless, sad face for a while before cradling her head in one hand, and holding the other on her back and pulling her into his chest.

Hinata stopped, noticing how tight he was squeezing her. Like he had needed a hug all these years, but never got one. She rested her weary head on his shoulder and let him squeeze the daylights out of her. Considering it was her sensei that she would probably never see again, she decided to enjoy every second of it. But soon, she found herself growing drowsy, and her large eyes began to droop shut. Soon, reality around her was disappearing, and she fell into a calm, purple haze...

**/3**

The next thing she knew, the Hyuuga was in her sleeping bag, being violently shaken awake by an over-excited Naruto.

"C'mon, Hinata! We gotta go deliver the scroll! Wake up, Hinata!" Then he ran outside, joining the rest of the group.

She sat up and rubbed her eyes, which were dry and swollen, before slipping out of her sleeping bag. As she slipped out, a folded sheet of paper came along with her from inside the pouch. She picked it up and unfolded it to examine the fancy writing.

_I've enjoyed my time knowing you. I look forward to facing you in combat if we happen to cross paths._

Hinata sighed, folding it back up and stuffing it in her pocket. She felt like breaking down into a whole new fit of tears. But at the same time, she had a strong feeling that this wouldn't be the last time she would spend with Itachi.

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**If you review, I'll give you some candy! Yum! ;D**


	15. Chapter 15

**Okee, I promised candy, you get candy! *gives candy and pats on head* :D Okay, things are about to get good, so please enjoy!**

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"And do you have all your shuriken?"

"Yes. I have everything."

"And your kunai?"

"Yes, I've already checked, Hinata."

"What about your forehead protector?"

"I was just going to put it on."

"Do you have-"

"Hinata," Neji said, grabbing his cousins shoulders firmly and looking into her eyes that were identical to his. "I've. Got. Everything." He enunciated every word carefully.

"O-okay, just making s-sure," Hinata said, blushing. Neji loosened his death grip on her shoulders, and she went back to folding his clothes and putting them in his pack while he looked into the mirror and tied his forehead protector over his forehead. Neji was getting ready to go on an A-ranked mission that would last quite a while. He had to leave and meet up with his team at the entrance of Konoha in a few minutes. Hinata wanted to make sure that her cousin had everything.

Neji walked over to Hinata and took his pack out of her hands and slung it over his shoulder. "I should go now. Thank you for helping me, Hinata."

As he began to walk out the door, Hinata quickly stopped him. "W-wait!"

Neji turned. "I promise, I've got everything. Save your breath."

"No, that's not what I was going to ask," Hinata said fidgeting with her fingers. "I was just w-wondering how long you were going to be g-gone."

Neji sighed. "I honestly don't know. Two or three weeks at the least." He began to walk out the door again, only to get stopped by his loving cousin once more.

"Neji! Stop!"

Neji whipped around, getting a little frustrated. "What do you want?" he asked, his eye twitching.

Hinata smiled and held out a riceball that she seemed to have pulled out of nowhere. "I made you lunch," she said. "Enjoy!"

Neji sighed and took the riceball. "Thank you Hinata. You're too kind." The two walked out of his room, down the stairs and to the front door that lead outside. Neji slid the door open and turned around to his cousin. "I'll see you when I get back," he said glumly. Then, without another word, he turned and walked down the porch steps, chewing on the riceball.

Hinata smiled and waved until he was out of sight. Then the smile fell from her face as she let out a sigh and leaned against the door frame, staring off into the direction her cousin went. This was going to be a lonely three weeks. Alone with her father. Maybe if she were lucky, she would get to go on a mission. She stepped outside and shut the door behind her, then began walking, not quite sure where she was going, but knowing that she wanted to leave.

Before she knew it, Hinata found herself in front of Kiba's house, knocking on the door. _How did I get here?_ she asked herself, examining the porch that she stood on.

The door slid open to reveal Hana, Kiba's older sister, who was holding a dark puppy. She smiled. "Hey there, Hinata!" she said excitedly.

Hinata smiled back. "Hi, is Kiba here?" she asked.

The puppy in Hana's arms struggled. She cooed down to it and kissed it on the head before smiling back up at Hinata. "Sure, come on in, little sis!" she stepped aside for Hinata to walk inside before sliding the door shut and yelling upstairs: "Kiba! Hinata's here!"

They heard a door open and shut, then the bounding of Kiba's footsteps before he appeared at the foot of the stairs. His eyes set on Hinata, and he grinned. "Hey," he said happily, walking over and kissing her on the cheek.

Hinata smiled, flushing pink. "H-hi, I hope you're not busy or anything..." she said hopefully.

Kiba waved his hand. "No, not at all. In fact, I was just thinking about visiting you."

"Aww, how precious!" Hana suddenly said, popping her leg and hugging the puppy tightly against her chest.

Kiba glared at his older sister. "Let's go upstairs, Hinata," he said, taking her hand and leading her up the stairs.

The last thing Hinata saw and heard was Hana waving excitedly in their direction and saying: "You two play nicely!"

**/3**

Kiba shut the door to his room and joined Hinata to sit on the edge of his bed. Akamaru lay at the foot of the bed, stirring in his sleep.

"So, what's up?" Kiba asked Hinata.

"Neji just left on a mission. And he's going to be gone for a really long time. Maybe over a month," the Hyuuga said glumly.

Kiba furrowed his brow. "So you're going to be home alone with your father?"

Hinata nodded.

"Wow, that sucks. So when are Hanabi and the others getting back, anyway?"

Hinata's face turned thoughtful. "I'm not sure. It's probably still going to be a while." Hinata's little sister, Hanabi, had left with many other young Hyuuga's to get special training somewhere in the Water Country. And they had been gone for a long time.

Kiba sighed and flopped over on the bed. "Well, you know that you can always hang out with me," he said winking at Hinata.

"Thank you," Hinata said with a small smile before flopping down next to Kiba.

The rest of the day they just hung out and talked about training with Kurenai-sensei and Shino. Then their conversation went to just Shino, and ended in them both laughing harder than ever. Hinata forgot how miserable she had been earlier that day when she watched her cousin walk off. She was always so happy when she was around Kiba. It was impossible to stay upset or sad when he was around.

But when Hinata looked out his bedroom window, she noticed that the sky was beginning to turn pink and purple. Her father was probably wondering where she was. She quickly sat up. "I should get going. My father will be angry if I don't get home soon."

Kiba looked out the window. "Ah, right, let's get you home. Akamaru!" Kiba shook his dog, who had somehow slept through all their laughter. The large white animal stirred and popped one eye open to look at his owner. "Akamaru, let's go and take Hinata back home."

Akamaru popped up and tackled Hinata back onto the bed and gave her plenty of wet kisses. Hinata giggled as she tried to push Kiba's loyal companion off of her.

"Hey! Akamaru, get off!" Kiba pulled him off of Hinata. "We've got to take her home, buddy!"

"ROOF!" he boomed, before excitedly panting and running downstairs.

**/3**

"Thank you, Akamaru," Hinata said, hopping off of his back. He barked in response.

"See you, Hinata!" Kiba said, smiling happily and waving. "We should go out sometime this week!"

Hinata smiled and waved back. "O-okay, that sounds like fun!"

"Alright, see ya!" Kiba yelled before riding off on Akamaru.

Hinata sighed. "Thank you, Kiba," she said quietly, suddenly remembering all her misfortunes. She glumly walked inside and shut the door. Her eyes studied the living room. No sign of her father. Maybe he was upstairs. As quietly as ever, Hinata slipped upstairs and tiptoed to her room, hoping to avoid some sort of interrogation from her father.

She slid the door shut behind her and flicked on the lighswitch before sitting on her bed and staring out the window at the fading sky. It was so beautiful. She pressed her forehead against the glass and watched the stars appear into the darkening sky, the pink fading to black.

_Tap tap tap_

Hinata jumped away from the window, alarmed. It sounded like someone or something was tapping her window.

She looked down at the window box with violets sprouting from it and saw what was tapping her window. It was a bird, but not just any ordinary bird.

It was a crow.

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**RRRRREEEVVVIIIIIEEEEEWWWW and this time I'll give cookies! ^.^**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey hey hey! Sorry it took so long to upload... "IT" has been rather stressful lately... but I have Monday off, so I decided to try making time to WRITE WRITE WRITE! :D I'm enjoying writing this :) So I hope you're enjoying reading it... well, why else would you waste your time reading it, right? Anyways, enough of my babbling! You guys all get candy for reading! :D**

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Hinata tightly shut her eyes and shook her head, trying to shake away the image. But when she re-opened her large white eyes, she saw that the crow hadn't moved. It was still staring up at her.

_Is this just a coincidence?_ Hinata thought. There was only one way to find out.

Hinata opened the latch of her window and swung it open. The crow cawed and flapped its wings, flying up into the air. Then it disappeared against the black sky.

Hinata clasped her hands before her. "Byaakugan!" she quietly said. Looking ahead of her with her Byaakugan, she could see the bird, not too far away, and jumped out her window to follow it. Past the gate of Konoha it flew, through the forest on a very familiar route she once took to train with...

Sure enough, the crow led her to a clearing with a small waterfall and a river. Hinata could see a figure standing on the other side of the river, and continued to follow the crow all the way over to him.

The crow cawed and landed on the young man's shoulder. "Thank you," he said in a calm voice before the crow disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Then he fixed his red eyes on the Hyuuga.

Hinata stared for a moment. "W-what are you d-doing here?" she asked, surprised.

Itachi looked away. "I don't know," he said smoothly. "One minute I'm lying in my bed, and the next I'm here with you."

There was silence as the two stood there awkwardly. Hinata flushed and looked down.

"Why don't we walk for a moment?" Itachi asked, suddenly walking out to her and holding out his strong hand. Hinata stared down at it for a moment before hesitantly taking it in her cold, pale one.

_Oh my goodness! I'm holding Itachi's hand!_ she thought excitedly as they walked back through the trees. Her cheeks were rosy pink as she looked up at Itachi's poker face, staring straight ahead without any emotion.

Finally, he spoke. "I told you the last time I saw you that I would never see you again," he stated, not tearing his eyes off whatever he was looking at in the distance. "But once I got back to the base, I couldn't stop thinking about you. I... just wanted to see you again."

Hinata's lips parted in surprise. Was Itachi... blushing?

Itachi looked down at her, causing Hinata to quickly tear her curious eyes away and look down at her feet.

"This is foolish of me," Itachi voice continued quietly. "If it weren't for my selfishness, then..."

"N-no, don't say that," Hinata said, shooting her gaze back up to Itachi.

Itachi just shook his head and looked back down at her. "No, it's true," he said. "I'm only here because..." he abruptly stopped walking.

Hinata stumbled. "Itachi? What's wrong?" she asked, concerned.

Itachi looked up at the sky through the trees. _How should I say this_... he thought. "Hinata... when I'm around you... I feel... happy."

Hinata cocked her head to the side. "Really...?" she asked, unsure. _He sure doesn't seem happy. And I didn't even think that word was in his vocabulary..._ she thought, puzzled.

"I know it might not look like it," he said as though he had read her mind, "but it's true. You make me feel wonderful."

Hinata just stared at Itachi, as though he had just punched her in the stomach. And she felt like that, too.

"Hinata..." he said quietly. She felt like her heart stopped with what he said next.

"I love you."

The next thing she knew, Itachi held her in his strong arms and ran his fingers through her long dark hair... and pressed his lips against hers into a passionate kiss. She had never been this close physically to anyone before. Hinata's eyes closed automatically and she found herself kissing him back and hugging him close, never wanting to let go. Was this real?

The kiss slowly stopped, but Itachi held his close embrace around her frail body. Hinata opened her eyes, looking over his shoulder, and feeling a smile grace her pale lips. Her eyes dropped shut again as she enjoyed every second she had with him.

Suddenly, Itachi stiffened and pulled away from Hinata, turning his head to glare at a nearby tree. "Deidara, Kisame, I know you're there!" he growled.

"Dang it, we were caught!" There was rustling from the leaves in the tree as the two men dropped down from the branches, the tall blue one holding a camera.

Hinata frowned, nervously watching as they walked closer. She stuck her hand inside the pouch on her thigh and gripped a kunai, glaring along with Itachi.

"What are you doing?" Itachi asked in a dangerously low voice.

"We wanted to see your girlfriend, un. What else?" the blonde one said with a shrug. Then he snatched the camera out of the blue one's hand. "Got some great footage, too." He pointed at the camera.

Itachi narrowed his Sharingan eyes. "Don't worry, Hinata," he said quietly. "They won't hurt you."

"Yeah, we won't hurt ya!" the tall blue one that resembled a shark said, grabbing her head against his chest (more like his stomach) and ruffled her hair playfully, flashing his sharp teeth.

"Itachi, why don't you introduce us, un?" Deidara asked excitedly.

Itachi closed his weary eyes and sighed. "Hinata," he said calmly. "This is Deidara and Kisame. And Deidara and Kisame, this is Hinata."

"Ah, Hinata," Deidara took her hand in his and shook it happily. Hinata felt something wet on her palm. She cocked her head to the side and looked down at his hand.

Deidara also looked down at his hand. "Oh..." he tugged his hand away to reveal a pair of lips, teeth and a tongue. "Uhm, sorry, un. I forgot."

Hinata laughed nervously, her eyebrow twitching with disgust.

Itachi took a handful of his blonde hair and slammed him against a tree. "Ouch!" Deidara yelled.

"You're pathetic," Itachi stated, obviously annoyed.

"Aww, c'mon, Itachi-san," Kisame whined.

Itachi looked up at him. "Leave," he commanded.

Kisame frowned. "But... but..."

"Kisame, do you remember that one time you looked into my Mangekyou Sharingan?"

Kisame gulped. "Y-yes..." he said quietly.

"Do you want it to happen again?" he asked, as though it was a common question.

"Uhm, Deidara we should probably go," Kisame automatically said to his pal.

"Aww man!" he said, pushing himself off the tree and pouting like a small child. "I don't see why you have to be such a wuss..."

"Hey, I'm not a wuss you son of a bi-" Before he finished his sentence, they both disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Itachi closed his eyes and sighed. "Sorry about that," he said coolly.

Hinata shook her head. "It's f-fine," she said, waving her hand carelessly.

The Uchiha strolled back over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You should probably get back to Konoha," he said.

Hinata frowned. "Itachi-san, will I see you again?"

He stared off into the distance for a while, looking deep in thought before replying, "Yes, you will. I promise."

Hinata smiled. "Okay, good."

They stood there for a moment before Itachi hastily leaned down to kiss Hinata on the cheek. "I'll see you soon," he said.

Hinata nodded, her cheeks flushing rosy pink.

With that, Itachi disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Hinata smiled, in spite of herself, and felt relief wash over her. She would see him again.

"He promised," she whispered.

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**If you review, you get... LOLLIPOPS! :O**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hi, it's ugala5777... I'm soo sorry! Fanfiction suspended my account! So I threatened to boycott the website and they immediately de-suspended it, lol. I mean, it works with everything! Every website! Trust me, if your account gets suspended, just send an email saying that you will boycott, and say it in a really professional kind of way, then they will apologize and unsuspend it, hehe! I am clever ^-^ Okay, enjoy the long-awaited chapter! Things are getting too good!**

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Once again, a Hyuuga heiress found herself, flopped over onto her bed, this time clutching a phone to her ear and talking to Kiba.

"I'm about to leave on a mission," he was saying. "A mission with Naruto." There was a hint of disgust in his voice.

Hinata frowned. "How long will it take?" she asked, hoping that it was only one or two days.

"Not sure," he said. "Something about a princess. It might take a while." He paused. "I'm sorry that I have to leave. I didn't want to."

Hinata sighed. "I-it's fine. You can't help it." First, there was no Neji to keep her company. Now, there would be no Kiba. What would she do?

Kiba was about to say something, but instead suddenly said, "Oh, sorry I have to go right now! I'll see you as soon as I get back! Love you!" Then he hung up.

Hinata put the phone on her dresser and opened her window. She stuck her head out and took in a breath of the cool, fresh, outside air before jumping out and landing perfectly on the ground. She hadn't even gone outside her room at all, not even to use the front door ever since Neji had gone. She had just gone off to Kiba's house or Ichiraku's whenever she wanted supper. However, right now she wasn't the least bit hungry. Just bored. Her only hope now was Itachi, but she couldn't just go and see him whenever she wanted. She simply sighed and let her feet take her to a bench by the academy where she stayed to watch busy shoppers and comrades pass by.

**/3**

The coast was clear. Itachi cautiously stepped outside of his room and looked both ways once again before starting down the hallway to the stairs. As quietly as ever. He stealthily passed Hidan's room, then Kakuzu's room. Then he passed Deidara's room...

But unfortunately for him, Deidara's door burst open to reveal the smug face of the blonde artist. Itachi saw that his eyes were fixed right on his. "Itachi, get over here, un!" Deidara yelled exuberantly.

Itachi ignored him and turned around to keep walking down the hall and to the stairs. But the next thing he knew, a familiar tall blue man had actually PICKED HIM UP off the ground.

"Kisame!" Itachi said threateningly. "I command you to put me down!"

Kisame teasingly shook his head. "Not until you tell us the details!" he said smugly before walking into Deidara's room and slamming the door. Then he tossed his friend on the bed. Enraged, Itachi stood up and closed his eyes. "Mangekyou-"

"Wait! No, no, no! Please, no! We just want to ask some questions, un!" Deidara desperately yelled while Kisame ducked behind him.

Itachi glared. "What. Is. It." he said in a dangerously low tone.

Now the two were once again happy as larks. They crowded around Itachi. "So, how long have you known this gal?" Kisame asked.

Itachi shrugged. "About a year, maybe a little more," he said coolly.

"Why doesn't she join the Akatsuki, un?" Deidara asked.

"She can't," Itachi said bluntly.

"Why not?" Kisame asked.

Itachi shrugged. "She doesn't want to."

"Did you ask her?" Deidara asked.

Itachi shook his head. "I'm not going to. She gets to decide."

"Why DIDN'T you ask! That would make life so much easier for you!" Kisame said.

"No, it wouldn't," Itachi said, remembering his bitter past. "At least she has a choice." The moment he said that, he regretted it, remembering that Deidara was with them and he didn't know.

However, he seemed oblivious. "Amen! I didn't have a choice either, un! But I love it here now!" He flopped over onto the bed and pulled out some purple nail polish.

Kisame's eye twitched. "Dude, you shouldn't paint your nails while Itachi and I are here... hey, where did Itachi go?"

Deidara sat up to see that indeed, Itachi was no where to be seen. "Man, he just has a way of disappearing, doesn't he, un!"

**/3**

Itachi had no time to lose. He ran as fast as he could outside, making sure that no one was following him. When he finally got outside, he stopped to catch his breath.

_They're impossibly ridiculous_, he thought to himself, sitting down beneath a shady tree. But he couldn't stop thinking about what they had said. "If only..." he said aloud. Not quite sure exactly what he was talking about, whether it was the fact that she couldn't stay with him, or that he couldn't stay with her in Konoha. But he didn't want to think too hard about it, so instead he tried to clear his mind and watch the leaves fall to the ground.

**/3**

"Okay, so I've got a plan, un," Deidara said excitedly, blowing on his nails.

Kisame frowned. "What? Does it have to do with explosions?"

Deidara shrugged. "Depends," he said carelessly.

"What is it?" Kisame asked suspiciously.

A smug, evil smile crept up on Deidara's face. He motioned for Kisame to come closer to him, which Kisame did so nervously. Once Kisame was in his reach, Deidara reached out and grabbed the collar of his cloak, pulling him in violently towards him.

"Ouch!" Kisame said, clearly annoyed.

Deidara didn't seem to notice. "I say we kidnap this girl that Itachi has shown interest in, un." This sentence was followed by an evil giggle.

Kisame gaped at Deidara, wearing an offended expression. "Deidara! That's reckless and you know it!" he scolded.

"But Kisame!" Deidara begged. "Please! Don't you want your best friend to be happy with us?"

"Well, he won't be happy with us once he finds out that we held his girl captive and forced her to join our organization," Kisame said. "I'm just being sensible."

"Well, so am I, un!" Deidara argued. "Itachi will thank us later on, don't you think, un? I think so."

"No, he'll send her back to Konoha. And what would Leader-sama say?"

"He'd be HAPPY to have another strong member," Deidara said with a shrug.

"But, Itachi would KILL us. Literally!" Kisame said. "Trust me, I don't think I would want anyone hurting my gal." Kisame smiled, a dreamy expression growing on his blue face.

Deidara shook his head. "Your 'gal' is a hammerhead shark," he pointed out.

Kisame looked cross. "So?"

"We won't hurt her, un," Deidara said. "We'll just take her back with us. And you know what, un? I bet that she has a desire to join us."

Kisame raised an eyebrow.

"What I mean is, she probably hates having to be separated from Itachi, and he probably feels the same way, don't you think?"

"Yes and no," Kisame said. "He said that she didn't want to leave Konoha. She has all her teammates there."

"Kisame!" Deidara grabbed his shoulders and gave him a light shake. "You imbecile! We had all of _our_ teammates in our former towns, but we left them! It's not that hard, un!"

"Yeah, but she's not like us!" Kisame said.

"She can become like us," Deidara said passionately. "Besides, this is her own choice, un!"

KIsame sighed. "Itachi is my best friend," he said quietly. "It's always made me upset that it's impossible for him to be really happy. That's the whole reason why I was glad that Itachi found a girl that cares about him and all..."

"Then do it for Itachi," Deidara said. "Let him be happy forever!"

Kisame frowned at Deidara. "You little tramp. I can't believe you dragged me into your terrible plan... Itachi will kill us."

Deidara jumped up excitedly. "YES! Okay, let's make this quick! Before Leader-same or Itachi notices!"

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**Okay, you know what the end of a chapter means? REVIEW! Or else... :3 You guys RULE!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Before you kill me, let me tell you what's been going on. Math, A forced Science project, a book report, ballroom tryouts, dance company tryouts, choir tryouts, science in general, ballet, karate... everything... and it seems like everyone is like, dying. And I'm getting soo antsy because summer is SOO close! Only 16 days! And I'm just feeling really down in the dumps lately, since, like I said, everyone is literally dying... so I was finally able to get this chapter up, so please enjoy! :)**

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"How are we gonna get inside?" Deidara asked, staring up at the closely guarded gates of Konoha from a distance.

Kisame thought for a moment. Did he know anyone that lived in Konoha? "Hmm..." he stroked his chin thoughtfully, all the while thinking of how busted they would get by Leader-sama and Itachi. _How did I get pulled into this again?_he wondered silently. "Well," he finally suggested. "All me and Itachi did to get inside Konoha was just take out the guards, then we walked freely through the streets. We even walked into a tea shop and had some tea. They treated us like normal customers, despite our famous uniform." Kisame flashed back to when him and Itachi were searching for the Jinchuuriki and happened to run into Sasuke.

"But Kisame, this is a kidnapping, un! We're supposed to be discreet!"

"Oh, but when Itachi and I came here, it was a kidnapping mission, and we weren't discreet at all!" he remembered.

Deidara frowned. "I still don't think just going out in the open is a very good idea..." he said, staring at the gates again.

"True, and we don't have Itachi's sharingan to take the guards out that easily," he said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Suddenly, he snapped his blue fingers together, a brightened expression appearing on his face. "I know!" he said with realization.

Deidara looked at him. "What?" he asked.

Kisame clasped his hands together, then he turned to a puddle of water, seeping into the ground and vanishing.

Deidara fumed where he stood. "How do you expect ME to get in there, hmmm!" he questioned at the ground where Kisame once stood. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully before snapping his own fingers. "I know!" he said, also with realization. He clasped his hands together and yelled, "Transform!"

Suddenly, in a puff of smoke, Deidara had taken the appearance of one of the only Leaf Ninja he had ever seen: Naruto Uzumaki.

Thinking that this was a somehow brilliant idea, Deidara ran energetically up to the gate, where the guards sat. They actually didn't blink an eye...

Until Naruto Uzumaki came running from the OTHER direction.

"Hey!" one of the guards yelled, standing from his chair. "What's the big idea, here?"

The real Naruto pointed an accusing finger. "Yeah! Who are _you_!" he yelled in Deidara's face.

A crowd began to form around the two Naruto's, all of them looking angrily at Deidara. "U-um... ah..." Deidara stuttered, scratching the back of his head nervously as perspiration ran down his forehead. "I uh..."

Kisame listened from a dark, unseen alley. _What a dope_... he thought with disapproval. _He'll blow our cover_!

Suddenly, Deidara saw none other than Hinata Hyuuga, in the crowd, watching Deidara with her large, white orbs. Although she looked cross like all the others, Deidara studied her lovely face in awe. _She's so beautiful_... he thought, blush creeping up onto his cheeks.

He shook his head. _Crap! What am I thinking_! He laughed nervously, silently transforming into Kakashi, the first person he could think of who wasn't among the crowd. "Well done, Naruto," he said, patting the Jinchuuriki on the head. "I was just testing you."

Everyone let out a sigh of relief. Naruto laughed, playfully pushing Deidara's hand off his head. "Man, Kakashi! You sure freaked us all out!" Everyone laughed, sighed, and gave "Kakashi" an approving thumbs up or slap on the back before walking away and going about all their duties. Naruto stayed in front of his "sensei."

"So," he said, a big, goofy grin planted on his face. "What do ya say we get some ramen and Ichiraku's?" Naruto asked hopefully.

"Uhm, sorry Naruto, but I have some things to do."

"Aww, why not-"

But Deidara just pushed past Naruto and continued on down the streets to Konoha, abandoning a confused Jinchuuriki.

_What's with Kakashi_? Naruto thought, rubbing his chin. _He's acting a bit strange_... He shrugged his shoulders. "No problem!" he said aloud. "I can just ask Sakura to go with me. It can be a date!" He giggled and ran off excitedly toward Sakura's house.

**/3**

"I've got an eye on our target," Kisame said through the walkie talkie.

"Me too," Deidara said. The two were on opposite sides the edge of a clearing in the trees, where Hinata Hyuuga sat, staring at her reflection, her expression forlorn. What could she be thinking?

**/3**

"Hinata," a too familiar voice said from behind Hinata.

She looked up at her cousin, who had appeared just behind her. "Y-yes Neji?" she asked innocently. He still wore his normal, hard expression, but was it just her, or did she see a trace of happiness in his eyes!

"Hanabi's back," he said coolly. But Hinata could tell that he was actually overjoyed. At first, she just stared up at Neji and blinked. What did he just say? Then, despite her cousin's seriousness, she smiled and jumped up. "Hanabi? She's back?"

In spite of himself, Neji couldn't help but give a small smile. "Yes, she's back. So you better hurry home." Then he jumped out of sight.

Hinata's eyes welled with tears of joy that streamed down her face. Her and Hanabi had a wonderful relationship before she had gone from home. Hanabi was the only person in the family who had really understood her, and would spend time with her, doing activities besides training. She was the little sister that everyone wanted, although she was favored more by their father.

**/3**

"Whoo! That was TOO close!" Kisame said through the walkie talkie. "At least he wasn't near either of us?"

"Yeah, that could have been ugly, un. I mean, he's a HYUUGA!" The two of them silenced as they watched the beautiful Hinata twirl around in place, her violet hair fanning out around her. Then she began running from the pond.

"NOW!" Kisame yelled. Both him and Deidara jumped out from the clearing, making the Hyuuga heiress stop in her tracks and look in shock on either side of her. Before she could run, both of them grabbed her arms.

"Let. Me. GO!" She yelled fiercely, wriggling violently from their grasp.

"Drain her chakra before she can pull any stunts!" Deidara yelled. Then, with both of their bare hands, they began to suck all the chakra out of Hinata's body. And she fell limp in their grasp, into a deep, purple mist.

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******I apologize for the cliffhanger... **You know, I would feel wayy better if I had some reviews :) Please do so! Thank you for your patience! ^_^


	19. Chapter 19

**Hey guys! Okay, so guess what! "IT" is out, and SUMMER VACATION is here! XD I still don't really feel like it's summer, since I still have to get up early almost everyday. Unfortunately, though, there's this stupid camp that I have to go to every year, so I won't be able to upload for a week. But I'm planning on getting the next chapter up before then. And, this is my last year at camp! Now I can shower every day! :D Okay, enough of this... enjoy!**

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"Byaakugan!" Neji was out in the open woods, searching everywhere for his cousin. His facial features were intensely hard as he searched in vain for Hinata. When he saw that he could see her nowhere, he sighed in frustration, turning off his kekkei genkai.

TenTen jumped through the trees, also in vain. When she spotted her teammate below her, she dropped down to his side. "Any luck?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

Neji solemnly shook his head. "It's no use- we've been searching forever. And we're far from Konoha. Who knows where they could've taken her?" Neji clutched the Akatsuki ring in his hand that he had found on the ground where he last saw his cousin.

_I knew it. That Itachi Uchiha must be responsible for Hinata's kidnapping. I tried to tell her not to associate herself with him, but she wouldn't listen._ Neji sighed. "Should I tell them about this?"

TenTen looked at Neji, puzzled. "Tell them what?"

Neji looked up. "Nothing. I didn't say anything."

TenTen shrugged. "Okay. Maybe we should set up camp. It's getting a bit late." She squinted at the sunset through the trees. "Lee has the tent. I'll go find him." With that, she was off, leaving Neji in his own thoughts.

_I can't tell. If she came back to Konoha, then she could have a death sentence for training with Itachi for over a year. I can't have that. But, if I absolutely have to, then I will for the village. She brought it upon herself, anyways._

**/3**

Blurred images began flooding the young Hyuuga's eyesight, and she could hear her heart throbbing in her ears. It pounded painfully in her head as echoing voices were yelling unintelligible words. Suddenly, there was a thud. Hinata blinked her eyes slowly open and began to understand what the echoing voices were saying.

"Kisame! Why did you push me!" an angry voice yelled.

"You just sold us out, you idiot! Now, are you POSITIVE that you didn't just accidentally leave it back at the lair?"

"I'm serious! I never take that ring off!" Hinata looked over to see a familiar blonde sprawled on the ground next to her, looking down at his hands like a girl examining a broken nail. "My finger just feels so empty without it..." he slowly looked over at Hinata. "Oh, goody, she's awake, un!"

Hinata's eyes popped wide open, startled as Kisame and Deidara crowded in on her as if she were a rare specimen. "Wow! Look at her eyes!" Kisame said, opening her eyelids and staring in awe at her eyes as if he were some sort of eye doctor.

Hinata shoved his hand away and jumped up, landing a few feet away. There was a throbbing pain in her head, but she ignored it. Just as she tried to turn on her Byaakugan, she realized that she didn't have any chakra. "What are you guys doing!" she asked, at a loss for what to say.

"Whoa, easy there, un!" Deidara said, carefully inching toward her as if she would bite off his head if he wasn't careful. "We're not going to hurt you."

Hinata glared mistrustfully at Deidara. "What do you want from me?" she asked aggressively, sticking her hand into her pouch and wrapping it around the handle of a kunai.

"Miss Hyuuga," Kisame said, stepping forward. "Would you like to see Itachi?"

Hinata's eyes widened with happiness, but immediately turned back into a glare. "You're lying," she automatically said.

"What!" Deidara asked in disbelief. "Why in the world would we be lying, un! We're Itachi's best of friends! We're like THIS!" Deidara crossed his two fingers, then crossed his third one over the top of them.

Kisame smirked. "No, not really. Deidara doesn't count in our friendship."

"WHAT!" Deidara exclaimed.

"Well, Itachi doesn't really like you," Kisame said with a shrug.

"And how do YOU know, un!" Deidara asked angrily.

"I'm his companion. He tells me things."

Deidara's jaw dropped to the ground. "He'll like me after we take the girl to him, right?" He looked over to where Hinata once stood, only to find that she wasn't there.

"Where is she!" Kisame yelled. He grabbed Deidara by his shoulders and shook him. "Thanks a lot! You made us lose track of Hinata!"

"No, YOU did! You're the one that made me forget she was even here! I was talking to her, until YOU distracted me, un!"

"Whatever, I still don't believe you. We just have to find Hinata, THEN we can settle this!"

**/3**

Hinata ran as fast as she could through the trees, although she was completely drained of energy.

_What'll I do?_ she panicked. _I can't even tell where Konoha is. I have no idea where I am! I can't even sense anyone's chakra!_

Suddenly, she her feet were off the ground, and she was being lifted higher and higher into the air.

"Not so fast, un!" a familiar voice said, peeking at her from atop the large clay bird that was carrying her.

"Put me down!" she cried angrily. But, that didn't exactly do much for her.

"Nah, I'm just going to take you to Itachi, un. Then he'll like me!" Deidara snatched Hinata's hand and pulled her up out of the talon of the clay bird and hoisted her onto it's back.

"Whoa!" Hinata nearly fell from the bird, but Deidara caught her around her waist. "If you don't want to fall to your death, I would suggest that you hold on tight."

Hinata frowned, but realized that if she really was being taken to Itachi, then she would rather not die, so she wrapped her arms around Deidara as they took off at full speed through the sky.

There was a long moment of silence, before Deidara finally spoke. "How long have you known Itachi?"

Hinata frowned. "I'd rather not talk to you about it," she said bluntly.

Deidara chuckled. "Wow, you seemed so sweet when I first saw you. I guess I got the wrong impression."

"W-well, if you were getting k-kidnapped, would you be polite?" Hinata asked him.

"I'd NEVER get kidnapped," Deidara told her proudly. "I wouldn't be weak enough to just let them suck my chakra out, un."

"Ugh!" Hinata said, turning away from Deidara. She could feel her chakra coming back, but she still didn't have enough. She peered over the edge of the bird's wing, hoping to see any sign of her friends from Konoha. Silently as ever, she gathered all her chakra to silently turn on her Byaakugan. She searched deep in the forest, miles away from where she was. Unfortunately, there were no signs of Naruto or anyone else.

Suddenly, her chakra ran out, and her Byaakugan shut off immediately. She tried to turn it back on, but her attempts were in vain. She felt more exhausted than ever.

**/3**

Once again, it was silent as Hinata and Deidara soared through the sky. He couldn't help but let a smug smile across his face.

_This is great_, he thought. _The hot Hyuuga girl is hugging me! I'm so lucky._

"Hinata, if you want to stay with Itachi, you can't tell him that we kidnapped you, un," Deidara said.

She was silent.

"I mean, if you told him, he'd just get mad, and send you back to Konoha, or something."

Once again, Hinata said nothing.

"I have a plan, though, un. You have nothing to worry about. Just DON'T TELL ITACHI if you want to stay with him forever. Understand, un?"

There was a long pause before Hinata answered, "I understand."

"Okay, here's what Kisame and I decided to do..."

**/3**

"Has anyone seen my uniform?" Itachi asked.

Everyone just shrugged, but no one looked guilty.

"Well, where HAVEN'T you looked?" Kisame asked.

Itachi shrugged. "All I know is that I never misplace it." His eyes flashed at Kisame dangerously. "You haven't taken it from me, now have you, Kisame?"

Kisame gulped, but stayed calm. "Now, why would I even WANT your uniform? That's just weird!"

The next thing that Kisame knew, he was up against the wall in a corner, with Itachi looking dangerously at him.

"I... saw it outside!" Kisame finally blurted. "But I swear I didn't touch it!"

That was a big fat lie. But Itachi didn't seem to notice Kisame's relieved look at he moved away from him and started outside.

_It's out it the rain? Seriously? That's just perfect..._ Itachi did the handsigns that opened the door and stepped outside, instantly getting soaked. It felt as though the heavens were dumping buckets of endless water on him. He could hardly see at all.

But, sure enough, his cloak was right by the entrance, Itachi bent over to pick it up, but he felt something underneath it.

No, not something, someONE.

The Uchiha furrowed his brow before tearing his cape off of whoever was underneath, only to find none other than...

"Hinata!"

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**Oh, man, the next chapter is gonna be GREAT! In fact, I think I'll start it NOW! This story just keeps getting more and more exciting! Okay, please review, and I will... give you... some homeade brownies!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hey, here's the next chapter... and some home made brownies! ^^ Enjoy!**

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Itachi could do nothing but stare at the Hyuuga, who just stared back up at him with wide eyes. She looked so pitiful and helpless.

"Hinata!" Itachi asked in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

Hinata sneezed. "I got lost," she simply said. "What are YOU doing here?"

Itachi just sighed. "How did you get lost?" he asked, completely disregarding her question.

Hinata remembered the story that Deidara and Kisame had told her to tell Itachi in case he asked. "I went on a m-mission, and got k-kidnapped by some bandits. I escaped, but n-now I don't know w-where I am." She sneezed again. "I found this Akatsuki cloak, so I knew that it m-must be close to the hideout. B-but then it started to rain, and... Achoo! ... this was the only shelter... Achoo! ... I c-could find."

Itachi relaxed a little. He picked her up and cradled her. "Well..." he looked around. They kind of were in the middle of nowhere. Maybe he could take her to Amagakure? He looked back down at her. She looked exhausted. _If I don't hurry and get her inside, she might die._ "Hinata, I'm afraid that the only place you can stay for right now is here..."

Hinata sneezed yet again.

_I have to do something, fast! _Itachi didn't want to cause a scene by stepping into the front door for the world to see him and Hinata, so instead, he ran to the other side of the base, and did all he could do.

He somehow opened his window from the outside and climbed through

**/3**

Itachi looked down at Hinata, who was once again sleeping uncomfortably and wearing one of Itachi's shirts. She had collapsed wordlessly on Itachi's bed and instantly fallen asleep, so Itachi tucked her underneath the covers and sat on the edge of the bed. He couldn't quite bring himself take his eyes off of her, let alone leave her all alone in his room in a place full of the worst criminals the ninja world had seen.

He brushed her long hair from her perfect face. It was still raining like crazy outside, and it pounded noisily on his window. Lightning crashed in the sky.

_Wow, if she was out there any longer, she could've gotten a deathly fever_, Itachi said, cringing at the thought. It was good that he had found her. But, how did she end up right outside their hideout? Was it destiny?

Itachi quickly eliminated that idea. Destiny wasn't real.

Hinata turned awkwardly onto her side. Itachi gazed down at her. He knew that he couldn't just keep her a secret forever. But how would he tell his fellow Akatsuki members? The only people that knew about Hinata were Deidara and Kisame, but he didn't exactly trust them very much.

Suddenly, the Uchiha's bedroom door opened, and fast as lightning, Itachi pulled the covers over Hinata's head.

"Itachi? What are you doing? I thought you went outside or something..." Kisame said. "How did you get back in?"

Itachi walked outide of his room, taking Kisame with him, and shut the door hastily. "Uhm, I... crawled through the window," he said rather lamely.

Kisame raised an eyebrow. "Really? Why?"

Itachi shrugged. "I guess I was feeling adventurous," he said awkwardly. Why couldn't he think of better excuses?

Kisame shrugged. "So... what did you find outside?" he asked.

Itachi coolly shrugged. "What I was looking for."

"Anything else?"

"Nothing else. Why are you on my back about this, anyway?"

**/3**

Hinata sat up in bed the second Itachi walked out the door and opened her eyes. She felt fine, but the only way that she could get in was to act as though she were very ill. ("Act like you're gonna die, un!") And ninja in her academy were taught that very well.

The Hyuuga creeped over to the door to listen to the rest of the conversation.

"I don't know!" Kisame said. "Sometimes you can find some pretty crazy, unexpected things outside?"

It was silent.

"Do you know, something, Kisame?" Itachi asked suspiciously.

Kisame was quiet. "No, I don't know anything," he finally said.

"Are you sure? Did you follow me and see something weird?"

"I swear, I saw nothing!" Kisame said, sounding desperate. "I didn't follow you!"

Once again, it was silent. "Well, if you did see something," Itachi said, "don't worry about it. I'm not going to stay quiet about it forever."

"When will you tell?" Kisame said in a hushed tone.

"Tomorrow," Itachi said.

Hinata frowned. She was already very nervous that she was there, but how would the rest of the Akatsuki react when they found out that she was there? What if they tried to kill her? Itachi wouldn't let that happen, would he?

**/3**

When Itachi came back into his room, he walked over to the bed and folded the covers off of Hinata's head. Her big eyes were still closed and she was as still as ever.

Itachi sat on the edge of the bed and kissed her softly on her forehead. She looked like an angel that had fallen from heaven. Although Itachi was worried, he was also happy to have her here with him.

Suddenly, the Hyuuga spoke. "How will they react when they find out I'm here?" she asked.

Itachi thought for a moment. How _would_ they react? Would they be mad? Or would they be excited to have another member? "I'm not sure," he said honestly. "They can be kind of unpredictable." It was true. Sometimes, they could be as cold and serious as ever. And other times, they could be real drama queens. It was always a surprise to see how they would act every day. Always something new.

"Just know, Hinata," he said gently, "I don't think I've ever been happier."

Hinata smiled up at him. "M-me either," she said shyly. Although he still looked as serious and sullen as ever, Hinata knew that he was happy. And if he was, then so was she. Especially since he was there with her. She sat up. "Itachi," she said nervously.

Itachi never took her eyes off of her as he stroked her pale face. "What's wrong, Hinata?" he asked, concerned. "Would you like more rest?"

Hinata quickly shook her head. "N-no, please don't leave. It's just..."

"What?"

Hinata sighed. "Do I have to leave?" she asked, blushing.

Itachi cocked an eyebrow at her. "Don't you want to go home? To Konoha, and all your friends and... and family?"

Itachi still had a hard expression, but Hinata swore that she saw a pained look in the Uchiha's fake red eyes. His eyes quickly dropped to the ground, and his emotionless look returned.

Hinata sighed. "I miss my friends," she said honestly. "And my family." _Neji, Hanabi_, "but lately... if I had to go one way or another, I would want to stay here with you."

Itachi's eyes widened as he looked down at Hinata's sweet face. She blinked her large lavender-white eyes up at him. He wanted desperately for her to stay, and thought that she deserved to make her own choice.

He sighed. "Hinata, you know that you shouldn't just take your family and friends for granted like that," he said, closing his eyes. When they opened, they looked distant, as though he was looking straight into his past with sad eyes. "They love you and care for you. Don't you remember how they were when Sasuke left Konoha?"

Hinata gulped. "Yes..." she said quietly. They were still determined to get him back. She admired them for doing all they could to get their best friend back. It was amazing.

"Hinata, you can make your own choices," he said. "But do you really want your friends and family to have to worry more about yet another rogue ninja?"

Hinata sighed and stared out the wet window. "No one really cares about me, anyways," she said. "Everyone is just always telling me that I have to do better. The only one who has ever really loved me for who I am over there is Kiba." She felt a stabbing feeling in her chest when she said his name.

"I'm sure that you're overthinking," Itachi said. "They must love you. They would be crazy not to admire all the hard work you've put into your training. Hinata, you really are doing your best. You are so determined to be a great ninja, to impress everyone. I admire that about you. Hinata, you're amazing."

Hinata blushed. "Y-you really think so?"

"I know so."

Hinata couldn't stop the small smile that graced her lips. "Itachi, I really want to stay here with you," she said.

The Uchiha's brow furrowed. "You know that it's gonna be difficult," he said.

Hinata nodded.

"You may have to go to Konoha on missions, as well."

Hinata frowned and hesitated, but then nodded.

"Look, why don't you think about it a little more tonight? It's a really big decision, and it should not be taken lightly. This will affect your whole life."

"O-okay. Goodnight, Itachi."

Itachi stood up after kissing Hinata on the forehead. "Goodnight, Hinata."

He closed the door and turned out the lights before going downstairs...

... on the dreaded couch.

**/3**

"WHAT!" Konan exclaimed, chucking her glass of water across the kitchen. It hit the opposite wall and shattered into thousands of small shards. Water dripped down the wall where it had hit.

All the men of the Akatsuki stared in shock (or just emotionless stares) at the one and only female. She had her messy blue hair tied into a ratty bun. She didn't have her piercings in, and she was still in her pajamas. Her expression was filled with rage as she paced back and forth throughout the kitchen, mumbling, "I don't BELIEVE this!" Therefore, she took on the appearance of an abusive adult.

"Calm down, Konan, un," Deidara said carefully. "It's just one more member-"

"Just one more member, you say! What, were you in on this all along!"

"NO!" Kisame and Deidara both yelled at the same time.

There was an awkward silence as everyone stared at Kisame. Without another word, Kisame stood up from the large round table and walked out the kitchen door.

"Anyone ELSE have something to say about this? Are you guys really going to make such a big decision! Itachi, are you going to sleep on the couch every night!"

Itachi glared at Konan, but said nothing.

"WELL!" she shouted.

"KONAN!" Sasori yelled, pounding his fist on the table as he powerfully and boldly stood up, earning tons of respect from the rest of the intimidated members. "I know why you're angry, and it's the dumbest reason ever!"

Konan stared at the red haired man, dumbfounded.

Sasori walked over to Konan and placed his hard hands on her slim shoulders. "Konan, just because you're not the only female member, doesn't mean that you're always gonna have all the attention! The rest of us want the spotlight sometimes, too!"

Everyone was beginning to see Konan's expression change from furious to shock and fright. Because really, Sasori was yelling at her pretty loud.

"We all think that you're beautiful, okay! But I think that it's good for you to have another girl member! So you don't have to always hang around pathetic guys! ALL THE TIME!"

The Akatsuki groaned, offended at what Sasori had just said.

"NOW!" Sasori whipped around to face his fellow Akatsuki members, taking his hands off Konan's shoulders and raising them high in the air. "Fellow Akatsuki members!" he preached, "I declare that KONAN," he pointed an accusing finger at the grumpy girl, "is HIGH! And very covetous! 'Thou shalt not covet,' right, Hidan!"

Hidan just stared at Sasori like he was seeing a ghost.

The pupped master took this as a cue to continue his speech. "My dear friends! I believe that EVERY great, beautiful, hot or sexy girl ninja should have the chance to be in the Akatsuki!"

"Hold on now-" Itachi and Konan both protested in unison. But Sasori held up a hand to silence them.

"Take DEIDARA, for example! Deidara isn't the best ninja ever, and he MAY NOT be a girl, but if he WERE a girl, he would be pretty hot! That is my biggest confession that I will probably ever make!"

Deidara's face turned pale white. He hastily stood up and left the room, shaking in disgust.

The poor thing was probably scarred for life.

"Konan, I want you to go upstairs and THINK about what you have just said and done," Sasori snapped. "And don't you DARE touch the girl!"

Konan's eyebrows arched down angrily. She stamped her foot and glided out of the kitchen, lividly slamming the door behind her.

"Now," Sasori hissed, narrowing his eyes at the rest of the Akatsuki. "Does anyone else have anything to say regarding the Hyuuga!"

The room was silent. No one had ever seen Sasori in such a... disturbing state...?

"Good!" he said loudly, smacking the table, and looking everyone dead in the eye. "Now EVERYONE! Go upstairs and INTO YOUR ROOMS! And, like I have said to Konan... DON'T TOUCH THE HYUUGA GIRL!"

"Yes, Sasori!" several of them cried, while the others were already halfway out or already out the kitchen door.

Itachi was the last one out (after Hidan had complained "Don't we get to finish breakfast!" and Sasori freaking out: "NNNNOOOOOO! Upstairs, young man! NOW!") of the kitchen. He looked back at the readhead puppeteer, who was clutching the sides of the circular table and staring at the far wall, panting as though he had just run a marathon around the world.

"Sasori," Itachi said.

"Upstairs, Itachi," Sasori said. "You'll probably want to protect that girl. She's important to you, right?" Sasori didn't take his eyes off the wall.

Itachi narrowed his red eyes. "I just wanted to tell you... how weird that was."

Silence.

"I hated it," Itachi said. With that, he closed the door and calmly walked up to his room.

And THAT was his way of saying, "Thanks for having my back... even though you could've been a little nicer to the others about it."

He opened up his door to find Hinata, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Well," he said, "it looks like you've got a new home, now."

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**Finally get what y'all wanted? Because I know I did XD Now I'm gonna go and look at some smokin' pictures of Wentworth Miller 3 Please review! And I'll SURPRISE YOU! With something great! Like some MILK to go with those brownies... Okay, I know that's lame... I'll think of something better, I promise! Just review and keep me motivated! XD**


	21. Chapter 21

**Omg, 21 chapters! Wow! XD I didn't think I would go this far with a fanfic! Because guess what? Since things are kinda just kicking off, that means that this is going to be a LONG fanfic! Hope you guys are happy! Have fun reading ;D**

**Oh, by the way... here's a lollipop for reviewing :)**

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Itachi narrowed his red eyes at his teammates. "Are you POSITIVE that you're ready for this?" he asked, unsure.

The Akatsuki were all seated on, in front of, or standing behind the couch. They all stared at Itachi, wide eyed and curious. Except for Konan, who just looked jealous.

"I'm not ready," she mumbled, crossing her arms and looking away. This earned her a small bop on the head for Sasori, along with a warning glance. She grimaced. "Yes, I'm ready," she sighed.

Itachi glared at her for a moment before clearing his throat. "Guys, this is Hinata Hyuuga, from Konoha."

As if on cue, footsteps from the upstairs hall were heard. The curious men (and not interested woman) turned their heads around to stare at the stairs, anticipation flooding the room as they waited to see the young Hyuuga appear.

Then she appeared from the hall. The room was completely silent.

_Just don't make eye contact_, Hinata told herself in her mind. She kept her head down as she made her way shyly downstairs and to stand next to Itachi at the front of the living room.

Itachi placed his hand on her shoulder, as if to tell her that everything was alright. "Hinata is one of us now," he said, "and I expect you all to treat her nicely. If not," he narrowed his eyes again, "You'll have to deal with _me_."

A few of the members gulped. Sasori looked very pleased, as if it were his own daughter or something.

Itachi quickly introduced all of his friends. "And, that's it. This is your new home, Hinata."

Suddenly, Pein stood up from the couch and briskly walked toward her. He was about two inches away from her, as he thoroughly examined everything he possibly could. When he was busy inspecting her... coconuts (awkward...), Itachi took Hinata's wrist and pulled her into his arms. He hugged her tight and glared at his leader, a glare that screamed, "I'm gonna KILL you if you do anything like that again!"

Pein took Hinata's hand (who was still being protectively squeezed to death by Itachi) and shook it. "I hope that you enjoy your stay," he said as though he worked at a hotel or something. Then he walked back to the couch. Hidan snickered. Itachi WOULD have used his Mangekyou Sharingan, but it didn't have any effect on Pein, thanks to his powerful Rinnegan.

"Well, you guys are dismissed," Itachi said emotionlessly, loosening his grasp around Hinata. He leaned down to her height and gave her a warning. "They're a little cold at first," he said, "but they'll warm up to you. I promise."

Hinata nodded her head. The next thing she knew, the red haired puppet master was right in front of her, vigorously shaking her hand. "It's a real pleasure," he said enthusiastically.

Itachi cocked an eyebrow. Sasori was usually so... chill. _I should know by now NOT to get surprised by the way they act sometimes..._ Itachi thought.

"Why don't I show you around?" Sasori asked. Before Hinata could reply, he had rapped his tan hand around her wrist and was dragging her upstairs.

"Hey! Wait for me, un!" Deidara suddenly yelled after them before jumping up and running after them.

Sasori glowered back at Deidara, but let him join them.

Itachi watched as they disappeared back behind the hall. _They're a little TOO excited... It's kind of worrisome_. He calmly walked up the staircase, swiftly and quietly, and then he too, disappeared behind the hall.

Konan "hmph"'d.

"Quit being so jealous, Konan! You'll get to have another girl to talk about your weird girl problems with!" Hidan said, frustrated as he clicked on the TV.

Konan snapped her head to look at the Jashinist. "You don't understand, you insensitive, sadistic, sociopathic-"

"Hey!" Pein snapped as he pulled Konan's hair. "Let's NOT go there!"

Konan rubbed the top of her head. "Did you really just pull my hair? You fight like a girl!" She stood up and turned to face Pein. "I can do better that _that_!"

"Oho, really!" Pein challenged. "I'd like to see you try!"

"Hey! Let's NOT go there!" Kisame said, throwing Samehada in between the two fighting adults.

The two "harrumphed" and stormed off into opposite directions. Konan slammed the door to the kitchen behind her while Pein stomped up the staircase and slammed his office door behind him.

The rest of the Akatsuki blinked.

"Dang it, why did Konan have to go into the kitchen? I'm hungry!" Kisame complained.

**/3**

"Tell me, Hinata," Sasori said seriously, looking the Hyuuga dead in the eye. "What do you think... of puppets?"

Hinata blinked. "Um... I've n-never really thought m-much about them, to be honest..."

"Well," the redhead said excitedly. "After THIS, you will NEVER stop thinking about them!" he exclaimed.

Deidara sat boredly in the corner. He sighed and shook his head. "Must you bore every new member like this, un?" he asked in a monotone voice.

Sasori shot him an angry glare. "You're just jealous because you don't know what REAL art is!" Sasori pointed an accusing finger.

"What!" Deidara stood up. "You freak! Art is a blast, not some weird human puppets!"

The two glared daggers, a lightning bolt shooting between them.

Hinata sweatdropped.

Suddenly, Itachi walked into the room. He looked boredly over at the two bickering criminals. "Guys, are you boring Hinata? I don't think that she wants to listen to you argue."

Hinata smiled upon seeing him.

Sasori snapped his fingers. "I know! Why don't we ALL watch 'Pinocchio'?"

"No!" Deidara said. "Let's NOT watch that dumb movie for the millionth time!"

"Fine, then! It's the puppets!"

Deidara "ugh"'d rather loudly. "No! No one want to see your puppets OR silly movie!" He turned to Hinata and smiled. "Why don't you take a look at my clay sculptures-"

Now, it was Sasori's turn to "ugh" rather loudly. "Your clay sculptures suck! It's a waste of time, and a disgrace to art!"

Before Deidara could go any further, Itachi took Hinata's wrist. "Let's go. These two are always arguing. You'll be in here for hours just listening to them fight."

And, before any of the two suffering artists could protest, Itachi had slammed the door shut.

"Sorry if that made you uncomfortable," he apologetically said.

Hinata giggled. "It wasn't th-that terrible," she said with a shrug. "I have to g-get used to it, r-right?"

Itachi paused and looked back. "Can I ask you something?" he asked.

"Um... sure."

"I don't want to offend you, but... why do you stutter?" Itachi looked as uninterested as ever.

Hinata blushed and thought about it for a moment. "I don't really kn-know," she said. "My father was always t-telling me that it was because I get shy around others. He w-was always telling me t-to fix it, and that I couldn't get anywhere i-in life if I kept stuttering." She looked up at Itachi and smiled sweetly. "I'm n-not offended," she said, scratching the back of her neck nervously and still blushing.

Itachi slid his hand down to take hers. "Fathers are strict, aren't they?" His voice sounded thoughtful, as though he was remembering something.

Hinata just looked at his face and said nothing. He was always looking so expressionless. He never showed any emotions. But as she looked at the shadows cast on Itachi's face in the dark, empty hallway, she noticed a trace of sadness- no wait, it wasn't sadness. He just looked... tired.

Hinata was so wrapped up in these thoughts that it surprised her when Itachi leaned down and said into her ear, "When I first met you, your stutter is one of the first things that I noticed. I love it."

Hinata felt like she couldn't breathe. "N-no one's ever asked me about m-my stutter," she said, surprised she still had a voice.

Itachi planted a kiss on her cheek. "Now you can ask me something," he said, instantly regretting what he had just said. _She won't ask anything TOO personal, right_? he reassured himself.

"What? Really? A-are you sure?" she asked, plain shock written all over her face.

Itachi solemnly nodded his head.

"Well, w-will you answer this time?" Hinata asked, remembering how he had never really answered her questions in the past.

Itachi nodded again.

Hinata frowned. "Well, I d-don't want to offend you either, but..." she paused. Should she say it? Finally, she just blurted it out. "Why do you torment Sasuke so much!" The Hyuuga slammed her pale hand over her mouth. _Crap! Why did I say that_!

To her terror, she kept going. "I-I mean, you're v-very nice, s-smart, caring, and so many other g-good things! I just d-don't understand why a guy like you would... would..."

"That's enough, Hinata. I know what you mean." Itachi closed his eyes and leaned wearily against the wall. He would just have to keep up the act that he had killed his clan to test his abilities. "Listen, Hinata. Have you ever hated someone so much that you honestly, truthfully want to kill them?"

He reopened his eyes. Hinata looked into them, seeing a sadistic, burning look. She wanted to run, but she also wanted to listen to what he had to say.

"I'm not just saying how some of you kids 'hate' and 'want to kill' your enemies, but I mean for real. You actually want them to die by your hand."

Hinata was speechless, so she shook her head. "I-I've never... hated anyone..." she said, feeling uneasy.

Itachi closed his eyes again. "I'm not surprised," he remarked. "I've hated Sasuke the moment my mother told me that she was pregnant. He was stealing my thunder. I couldn't let THAT happen."

Hinata furrowed her dark brows. "B-but you were so y-young..." she though aloud.

Itachi shrugged. "I wanted to kill him, but then I thought about it. I wanted to make him suffer endlessly for the rest of his sorry life. So I acted like the brother he wanted until that one night. Now, he's still alive, thinking about destroying me. He's still suffering."

This didn't seem right. Itachi was so kind towards her, and he was actually pretty normal compared to many of the Akatsuki that she had seen, such as Zetsu and Kakuzu. Was he really a homocidal freak?

Itachi pushed off of the wall. "The guest room is the last door down the hall. I'm getting tired."

"But it's only 11:00 AM!" Hinata protested.

Unfortunately, she was ignored by Itachi, who was already all the way to his room and shutting the door quietly behind him. _Have I upset him_? she thought, bewildered. Then, she sighed. She should've expected a reaction like that.

She turned around. Since the poor girl had nothing better to do, she would go and hang out with Deidara and Sasori.

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**So...? Review! Review Review! -_^**


	22. Chapter 22

**I'm having fun! Writing this story! XD Before you read, here's some snickers for reviewing *hands over snickers* Okay, now enjoy!**

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12:00 midnight, and Hinata was FINALLY able to break away from her two newly acquired, obsessive artist teammates. As she stumbled out of the room, she let out a tired sigh and began down the hall, but stopped right in front of Itachi's bedroom door. Was he awake? Should she check on him? Was he angry with her from earlier?

Hinata nervously stood outside the door for a minute or two, then finally knocked softly on it. "I-Itachi?" she said quietly. "Are you awake?"

There was no answer. Maybe he was shunning her...?

"Well, if you are," she said, "then I'm sorry if I made you mad earlier. I-I didn't mean to, I was just curious." She paused, feeling a little dumb since it felt like she was talking to herself. However, she kept going. "And... I don't care that you killed your clan. I know that you're a good guy, and... I r-really care about you." She began to blush. "So... please, d-don't be mad at me. I would do anything for you..." she swallowed, "because I love you."

She was quiet for what seemed like forever, as if she was waiting for Itachi to open his door and let her in. She wasn't expecting that to happen, but she had a strange feeling that he was listening. So she said more. "I've n-never felt like this about anyone," she said, mostly to herself as she remembered Naruto and Kiba. "So please forgive me." She twirled her hair, hoping that Itachi would make an appearance. But, minutes passed, and Hinata realized that she couldn't just wait there all night. "Okay, goodnight, Itachi," she said softly. Then, she turned and walked down to her room without another word.

* * *

Itachi listened to Hinata walk down the hall and her door close. He was still wide awake, in the same position he had been the whole day, staring at the ceiling. He closed his eyes momentarily. To his surprise, he found himself in a deep sleep, but it didn't last long. Soon, terrible nightmares flooded his peaceful sleep. Memories from that night. Kunai and shuriken scattered everywhere, blood pooling around everyone he slaughtered, Sasuke's helpless cries and the look of horror on his innocent face, that sick, twisted feeling he got in the pit of his stomach with every new person he killed, and their shrieks of terror as they attempted in vain to defend themselves.

Then, Itachi's eyes fled open and he found himself sitting up, nearly hyperventilating and having broke out into a cold sweat. His eyes were wide open with shock.

This was pretty much how every night was for him.

_This is ridiculous_, he thought. _I shouldn't keep lying to her like this. I should just tell her the truth. She has a right to know_. Besides, she knew that he wasn't _really_ a killer. She had to have some idea that he wasn't telling the truth. Another thing, she wouldn't be the only one that knew. Kisame also knew the whole truth.

_I'll tell her tomorrow_, Itachi vowed. It was all he could do not to go and talk to her that very moment, but he knew that Hinata was probably tired after a LONG day with Sasori and Deidara.

He sweatdropped. Maybe he should've rescued her...

* * *

The next morning, Itachi walked into the kitchen after not having slept the ENTIRE night, only to see that Hinata was already up, with none other than Hidan. She was sitting at the table with a pile of blueberry pancakes in front of her, along with some maple syrup, watching Hidan talk with a glazed, tired expression on her face as if she would rather be sleeping.

"Then there was the time that I had to sacrifice a LAMB to Jashin-sama, because it had been so many months that I wasn't able to- oh, look who FINALLY decided to show up," Hidan scoffed as Itachi appeared in the kitchen. "I thought you disappeared off the face of the planet."

Itachi narrowed his eyes at Hidan. "Must you keep every new member up all night talking about your silly religion?" Itachi asked, watching Hinata's eyelids droop.

"Yeah, because no one else is interested," Hidan said, as though it were common knowledge that Itachi didn't know. "I have to tell Hinata here EVERY detail before she loses interest!"

Itachi eyed the Hyuuga. _I think she's lost interest a _long _time ago_... "I actually have to talk to Hinata about something important," Itachi said politely. "Do you mind?"

"I DO mind!" Hidan said defensively. "I have plenty of other matters I have to talk about with Hinata, here. And when will I get another chance!"

"Maybe in a few years, if you're lucky. Hinata, come here."

Looking grateful, Hinata groggily, yet energetically, jumped up from the table and stood at the Uchiha's side. She turned and smiled nicely at Hidan. "Th-thanks for the pancakes, I'll be back."

"I'm counting on it!" Hidan said, shooting a glare at Itachi, who just ignored him and lead Hinata out of the room.

"He does this to all the new members," Itachi explained, putting his arm around Hinata's shoulders. "He even kept me up for nights on end. It was really annoying."

Hinata smiled. "I guess he's very religious," she commented.

"He's overly obsessed. It's all he ever talks about. Sorry you had to deal with him keeping you up all night."

Hinata yawned. "It's okay, I was awake anyways."

The two walked in silence up the stairs and then they went into Itachi's room.

"Why don't you take a seat?" Itachi said. Hinata traveled over to the bed and sat on the edge while Itachi looked both ways down the hall, as if he were about to cross a busy street. When he saw no one, he shut the door firmly and joined Hinata on the edge of his bed.

The room was silent. Itachi just stared at the floor for what seemed like ages.

_Should I ask him what he wants?_ Hinata thought nervously. She was starting to feel a little impatient, but she kept her mouth shut.

"First off," Itachi finally spoke, "I want to apologize. About yesterday... I lied to you."

Hinata looked skeptical. "Y-you lied?" she clarified, remembering their little conversation from yesterday.

"Yes, but then I thought about it, and I decided that you had a right to know the truth. But you have to promise me something."

Hinata nodded slowly. "Okay..." she said slowly and unsure.

"You can't tell ANYONE about this. Not one word of this conversation will leave this room."

Hinata frowned. "Why not?"

"Because no one can know," he said. "The only other one that knows the truth is Kisame, but I don't want you to say anything, even to him."

"I promise," she said.

"I'm serious, Hinata," he said, shooting a deadly serious look towards her. "No one can know about this. Ever."

"I'm serious too," she said nervously.

Itachi looked back at the wall ahead of him. "Good. Okay." Once again, it was silent as he just stared ahead. Hinata glanced over, only to see the familiar, emotionless expression on Itachi's face, with that trace of tiredness. It was as though his past was flashing regretfully in his eyes.

"I didn't want to kill my clan," he said finally. "I had to do it to prevent another ninja war from happening. ANBU told me to. It was the only way to stop the war from happening."

Hinata felt as though she had been stabbed. Was he really telling the truth! "You mean... you did it against your will?" she asked incredulously.

Itachi solemnly nodded. "Yes. I wasn't supposed to keep Sasuke alive, but when I saw him..." he trailed off momentarily. "... I just couldn't do it. And since I couldn't kill him, I had to pretend to hate him, my clan, Konoha. I had to abandon Sasuke and was ordered to leave the village. They didn't want Sasuke to know anything about it."

Hinata gaped at the older Uchiha. "Itachi..." She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She couldn't possibly imagine what that had been like, and what it was like still living with that fact.

"That's why I'm here," Itachi said, monotone. "All because I couldn't destroy my foolish little brother like I could the rest of my family."

There was a long silence. "I... I don't know what to say..." Hinata said honestly.

"You don't have to say anything," Itachi said. "I just thought that you had a right to know."

Hinata looked down. "I c-could never imagine killing my clan... Neji, Hanabi, o-or even my father..."

"Well, I wouldn't recommend it," Itachi said casually. "It won't ever leave you. Not one day will pass where you don't think about it."

Itachi soon found himself lost in his thoughts in the silent room. He hated talking about it, but what could he do? It was impossible to just forget about it, whether he said anything about it or not.

Suddenly, he felt something on his hand. He looked down to see Hinata's pale hand on top of his. She held a warm expression on her face. "That must've been hard, and I know I can never understand how it is to be forced to kill your comrades," she said. "And I'm really sorry that you had to do this. It's not what you deserve."

Itachi just stared at her. She squeezed his hand in hers. Much to his surprise, he felt himself turning red. In return, Hinata began to blush. She looked down at the ground, but didn't let go of Itachi's hand.

"I've always known that you were good. I don't know, I just... knew." She looked back at him and smiled, her eyes closing to crescents.

Itachi felt a million emotions at once. Sadness and sorrow, happiness and joy, love for Sasuke and Hinata, homesick for Konoha, and tons of other ones that he couldn't exactly tell. One thing he did know was that he wanted to squeeze Hinata and never let her go. He had never had anyone try and comfort him like this. She really was very special.

Suddenly and very unexpectedly, Itachi had embraced Hinata and was hugging her tight. It was unexpected for both of them.

"Hinata," Itachi said, very quietly yet meaningfully. "Thank you."

Hinata's eyes were now wide open, and she slowly hugged Itachi back. Then, she felt something warm and wet drop on her neck.

* * *

Neji sighed in frustration. "I told you, I've looked everywhere for any traces of Hinata!" he said, exasperated. "These Akatsuki freaks are very good at covering their tracks."

Hiashi eyed his nephew. "When I get my hands on that girl, I swear-"

"Father, please," Hanabi said, running her hand through her dark hair in exasperation. She looked older and more mature. "Just because she couldn't fight off two Akatsuki members all by herself-"

"Well, that's the point, Hanabi," Hiashi said. "There was no sign of struggling. Could they really have taken her that easily?"

Neji looked down. _Should I say anything? About her and Itachi_?

Hiashi seemed to notice that Neji was deep in thought. "Do you know something?" Hiashi asked suspiciously.

Neji looked up. "I know nothing," he said. _I can't keep covering for her_!

There was silence as Hiashi analyzed his nephew's hard expression. "I see," he said, closing his white eyes and sighing in frustration. "Well, if you happen to know anything, then it would be smart to tell," he said.

Kiba was also there in their kitchen, fuming angrily. "I'll kill them all," he said, mostly to himself. He glanced over at Neji. He looked just as expressionless as ever. _Hmm... a ninja must be very good at lying. But they also must be good at knowing when someone is lying. Neji just looks like he always does. He just might know something... but if he did, then why would he be hiding it?_

Kiba quickly shook the thought off. Neji wouldn't lie about such a thing. It was his COUSIN they had taken, for heaven's sake! If he knew something, he would say it... right?

"Hiashi, do you think that I helped kidnap her or something?" Neji asked, daring Hiashi to say 'yes.' "I want to find her just as much as all of you do! I want to get her away from those filthy Akatsuki freaks!"

Hiashi looked at his nephew, pleased with his answer. "Very well, Neji. Let's not give up."

Neji stood up, looking as though he had been greatly upset. "May I go?" he asked rudely.

Hiashi nodded his head once, and Neji stormed out of the room and slammed the door. "Hanabi, Kiba, you may also go."

"Thank you, Hiashi," Kiba bowed. "I'll do whatever it takes to find Hinata."

"Good. Hanabi, I want you to go and train. You will NOT let yourself get kidnapped as easily as your sister has."

"Yes, sir," Hanabi said obediently before exiting the room beside Kiba and Akamaru.

"Hey, is everything alright?" the youngest Hyuuga asked a smoldering Kiba.

"Hardly," he replied.

"We'll find her," Hanabi reassured Kiba.

Kiba looked into the determined face of Hanabi. She looked so much like Hinata. All he could do was nod once. Then she walked out the door. When Kiba got outside after her, she had already gone to train.

* * *

**Hehe... Sorry about the abrupt ending... I just didn't know how to end it good, I guess. So... as always, review! And I'll upload ASAP! You guys are great! XD**


	23. Chapter 23

**I have nothing to say except... you have GOT to check out this website: ask - the - akatsuki . webs . com (without the spaces)**

**It's freakin' hilarious!**

**Okay, ANYWAYS... here ya go :)**

* * *

"Katsu!" The clay spider exploded in the middle of the living room. This had been going on for what seemed like forever, and somehow, by some miracle, nothing had caught fire just yet.

Deidara stuck his hand back into his clay pouch. Hinata watched in fascination as the mouth on his hand chewed on the clay, then spat out a perfectly made sparrow. Deidara threw it into the air, and it began to fly about. "Katsu!" The bird exploded into smithereens.

"You're pathetic, you know," Sasori said with a sigh. "Wasting your time like this..."

Deidara scowled. "I disagree," he said, crossing his arms. "Look, Hinata's enjoying herself, right?"

Hinata smiled nervously. "S-sure..." she lied.

Luckily, Deidara didn't seem to catch on. "See? Don't act like you know everything there is to know about art, hmm."

Konan was the only other one there. She was flipping through what looked like a magazine. "Would you two shut up!" she snapped. "Nobody cares! And _Deidara_," she said in a disgusted tone, glaring over at the blonde. He gulped nervously. "You're the one that reincarnated Sasori! If you-"

"SHH!" Deidara hissed. "I did NOT!" He was now turning bright red. "Why would I even want him alive?"

Sasori smirked. "Because you just can't live without me," he said knowingly. "Who would you argue with? See, I know you all too well."

Deidara frowned. "I really hate you," he muttered, looking away.

"Which is why you brought me back to life," Sasori commented. "That's pretty normal, though, I guess."

The two glared angrily at one another, once again a lightning bolt between their angered looks.

"GUYS!" Konan yelled. "I want to read! But you just HAD to come and distract me!" She looked over at Hinata and shook her head disapprovingly. "You can hang out with these _idiots_, but I have more important things to do." And with that, she got up and walked away.

Deidara sighed. "Well, I'm bored, un. What should we do?"

"I know. Whoever kills Deidara first wins."

"No, Sasori! Seriously!"

Suddenly, Kisame walked into the room. "Hinata! There you are!" He walked over to her and playfully ruffled her hair. She instantly began to smooth it back down when he stopped, but the shark man didn't seem to notice. "Itachi is looking for you," he said.

Hinata gratefully jumped up from the chair she sat in, pretty happy to get away from the two arguing artists.

"Hey, hey, hey," Sasori said. "Wait one second." Kisame and Hinata stopped and turned around, to where Sasori stared suspiciously at the Hyuuga. "Are you and Itachi going out, or something?"

Hinata turned as red as a tomato. Kisame and Deidara smiled. "Yup!" they said at the same time.

"K-Kisame!" Hinata stammered in embarrassment. "We're not going out!"

"Are you sure?" Kisame smugly asked. "What about that one time you guys _kissed_?" he teased. "I filmed the whole thing. I have evidence!"

"Kisame! Shut up!" Itachi's voice came from behind. Then the shark man went flying all the way to the other end of the room and hit the opposite wall.

"Whoa, that was epic, un," Deidara remarked after a brief silence. Kisame was now unconscious.

"If you don't want the same treatment, then you should shut your mouth," Itachi suggested.

"What mouth! I have three!" Deidara said defensively and very seriously, causing Sasori and Hinata to hold in their giggles.

Itachi just blinked, not sure what to say to that. "Right," he finally said, sounding rather lame.

There was an awkward silence. Sasori looked as though he would explode with laughter any second at Deidara's idiocy.

"Well, let's go, Hinata," Itachi finally said, turning towards the front door. "I have something to show you."

Hinata couldn't help but smile as she followed Itachi. She looked back at the other three members. Kisame was still lying by the wall, blacked out, while Deidara and Sasori were back to fighting as though nothing had happened. Hinata sweatdropped at the strange sight.

**xXx**

Itachi walked behind Hinata, his strong hands covering her closed eyes. "We're almost there," he said.

"Kay," Hinata said. It was nice to be alone with Itachi, but what he was doing she also found very strange. First of all, he was acting very out of character. This was so NOT Itachi. She had never expected anything like this out of him. And secondly, she had never been surprised like this before. It was definitely something new.

"Alright, you can open your eyes," he said suddenly uncovering her eyes. Hinata instantly opened them, and felt as though her breath had been taken away. Surrounded by trees, she found herself in a broad field. Colorful flowers sprouted up from the ground everywhere. The grass was a dark, lush green and butterflies, dragonflies, and happy birds zipped through the air. There was a clear pond in the middle where frogs happily jumped from lily pad to lily pad. The sky even seemed bluer than it was before.

Hinata stepped foreward, taking it all in. Was this place real? She felt a nice breeze blowing through her hair.

"Well?" Hinata had almost forgotten that Itachi was with her.

"It's the most beautiful place I've ever seen," she breathed, completely awestruck.

"That's how I feel," Itachi said quietly, walking up beside Hinata and looking at the blue sky.

"How d-did you find it?" Hinata asked.

"When I first joined Akatsuki, I never spent any time inside the base. Instead, I just explored. So I found this place. It's where I always go to empty my mind." Hinata felt his fingers intertwining with hers. He began walking foreward. "No one else knows about it here," he said. "I've never told anyone. Knowing everyone in the Akatsuki, they'd destroy the place."

Hinata giggled. "You're right about that," she said. "It's remarkable here."

"It is," Itachi agreed. Hinata glanced up at him to see his thoughtful expression. He looked almost radiant as he gazed off into the distance. She remembered how terrified she was of him when they first met, how cold she thought he was. She never would have thought that she would ever get so close to an S-Ranked criminal in her life. Now here she was, with the killer of all the Uchiha clan, in a lovely field. And she also knew more about him than anyone else back in Konoha did. It was a really crazy thought.

"Hinata," Itachi suddenly said. "I just wanted to say... thanks a lot for... yesterday."

They Hyuuga's eyes widened as she remembered the previous day. Itachi had never showed such raw emotions before then, and it had been very unexpected when he had hugged her like he would never let go. It was especially shocking when she realized he was crying.

Was that even possible?

"I've never had anyone speak such consoling words to me. It felt nice."

Hinata blushed. "I-It was n-no problem," she said, clearly embarrassed.

Itachi looked down at her, and she thought she might have seen a smirk on his face. Just maybe. "You're so modest," he commented.

Hinata just blushed even more.

"I like that," he said, leaning down and kissing her forehead.

"W-well," Hinata said, "thank _you_ for telling me the truth."

Itachi said nothing. They had reached the pond, and the two took a seat on the soft grass and marveled at the scenery before them. Itachi looked at the pond, then his eyes darted to Hinata. She was also looking into the pond. He remembered the last time he had seen her before he found her outside in the rain.

Hinata noticed Itachi looking at her. She smiled up at him then rested her head on his shoulder.

"Hey, Hinata," Itachi said. She looked back up at him, a questioning look on her face. "Don't you like to dance?"

Suddenly, Hinata felt her face grow red and hot. How did he know?

"I saw you dancing one time," Itachi confessed. "That mission you went on with the Jinchuuriki... I was walking and I saw you dancing on the river."

Hinata's face grew hotter as she remembered that she hadn't exactly been wearing her clothes when that happened. She looked away.

Itachi noticed her blushing. "I thought it was beautiful," he said. "Very graceful."

"Th-thanks..." Hinata murmured. No one had ever known that she loved to dance like that. And if they did, then no one ever mentioned it to her.

"Well? Why don't you show me?" Itachi asked.

"Wh-wh-wh-wh-_what_!" Hinata exclaimed.

Itachi pressed his fingers on her pale lips. "Shh," he hushed.

Hinata moved his hand. "I can't do that," she said, more quietly.

"But you've danced in front of me before," Itachi pointed out.

"B-but I didn't kn-know you were even there..." she said.

"I'm not going to criticize you," Itachi said. "And you don't even have to do it for long. Even if it's only for five seconds."

Hinata stared at the tempting water. Itachi's words rang in her head. He was right. He would never criticize her. She frowned. "Okay, fine," she said feeling defeated. Without another word, she stood up, took off her shoes, and walked right on top of the pond, taking a deep breath, not believing that she was literally about to perform. She started off with a graceful twirl. _This is weird_, she thought, catching a glimpse of the Uchiha as she spun around. She only snuck out at night to do this, and she ony did it for her own sheer enjoyment, not at others expense.

However, while she was lost in these thoughts, she didn't realize that she was getting quite into her dancing. Just like the night Itachi had seen her, there were ribbons of water that she guided with her chakra that spun around her. Her moves and posture was impeccably perfect, her grace indescribable as she leapt and twirled across the pond. Itachi looked at her mysterious face, that held more confidence than he had ever seen in her. He couldn't stop the small smile that graced his lips.

Suddenly Hinata stopped. She cleared her throat and brushed imaginary dust off her jacket. "Yeah..." she said awkwardly as a pink blush touched her cheeks. _I got way too carried away_!

"Why'd you stop?" Itachi asked.

Hinata fidgeted her fingers. "Because y-you said that I only had to do it for five s-seconds. I-it doesn't really matter." She walked back onto the grass and sat down like nothing had happened.

"Now every time I come here, it'll feel like something is missing," Itachi said. "If I could keep you here to dance forever, I would. You just topped off this meadow's beauty."

Hinata hid her bright red face behind her curtain of hair. She almost wanted to disappear.

However, Itachi brushed her hair behind her ear and planted a kiss on her cheek. Then another one. And another. All the way until he was kissing her on the lips. Hinata felt like her head would explode any second if she blushed any more than she already was.

When they pulled away, Itachi stared at Hinata looking slightly amused.. "I'm sorry," he said, brushing her cheek.

"You shouldn't be sorry," Hinata told him.

"No, I'm sorry for making you do something that you didn't want to do," he said.

Hinata smiled and played with the grass beneath her fingertips. "I-it's fine," she simply said.

**xXx**

Kakuzu counted his money on the coffee table. When he heard the door open, his head snapped up. He saw Itachi walk in, carrying Hinata, who was fast asleep. But, even though everyone knows that Itachi isn't one to steal money, that didn't stop Kakuzu from protectively swiping all his money off the table and running as fast as he could up the stairs, down the hall, and to his room. The whole time he was running, it sounded like a stampede of angry buffaloes. Itachi just sweatdropped.

* * *

**Hehe, yeah, that was a really random ending... I just didn't know what to do after that, so... yah. Review! Review! OR ELSE!**


	24. Chapter 24

**Hello everyone. I have a few valid excuses for not uploading. One, I was on vacation. And two, I'm currently suffering from HPID: Harry Potter Induced Depression.**

**Yes, I am very upset. I feel like someone died. My childhood has ended! Really, I have a right to be sad! :'( I mean... I WAS ONLY TWO YEARS YOUNGER THAN HARRY POTTER! The books STARTED when I was two years old, then the movies started when I was two years younger! *collapses onto the ground and begins to hysterically sob***

**Shikamaru: Sorry, I'll take it from here. Ugala wants you to know that she'll upload the next chapter tonight, and that it will be less of a drag than this one. So please enjoy this chapter, and my apologies for the long wait.**

* * *

"Tobi! Where have you been!" Pein demanded.

Tobi shrugged. "Senpai sent me on a mission!" he chirped.

"Deidara sent you on a mission," the leader clarified. "And what was that mission?"

"He said that I had to go and get him some more clay in Europe," Tobi explained. "And he told me to take my time! So I did! Tobi is a good boy that listens to his Senpai!"

"I'm going to kill that-" Pein began, but quickly stopped before he said anything foul. "And why did you go without my consent?"

"Senpai said that I could... and I've always wanted to travel!" _To find those pathetic Jinchuuriki's_...

Pein just stared at Tobi. He looked around the living room. There was no one in sight. Quickly, Pein dragged Tobi into a nearby closet and shut the door. "What were you really doing?" he asked.

"It's true. Deidara really told me to leave. But the reason I obeyed is because I was in search of the Jinchuuriki outside of the Fire Country. The Gobi."

Pein blinked. "Wait... didn't we already capture the Gobi?"

Madara scratched his head. "Yeah..." he said awkwardly.

"So... did you forget?"

"That's not important," Madara quickly said. "I heard something about a new member."

Pein shrugged, not caring how Madara had quickly changed the subject. "Yes, there is a new member. And she could be the key to capturing the Kyuubi."

"Oh really? So she's from Konoha?"

Pein nodded once.

"And is she acquainted with Itachi Uchiha?"

"Yes, he's the one that brought her here. She's Hinata Hyuuga."

"A Hyuuga!" Madara exclaimed. "Perfect! Now we have a Byaakugan holder!"

"Yes, it's quite amazing," Pein said. "Anyways, I would suggest that you go upstairs and get to know her a little. She's been stuck with all the weirdos up there all day. I bet she's sick of them."

"Well, I hope that she doesn't find Tobi so obnoxious, then," said Madara.

**xXx**

Konan held up a perfect origami rose that she had made. "This is my specialty," she explained to a wide eyed Hinata and handing her the rose. "No one is as good as I am."

Hinata studied the flower. There was no flaw. "Wow, that's amazing," she complimented.

The blue haired woman nodded. "I know, I get that a lot." She snatched the flower back and stuck it in her hair. "Have you ever made origami?"

Hinata shook her head. "No, my father said that it was a waste of time." She sweatdropped as she noticed Konan staring at her, seemingly boring holes into her head.

"A waste... of time?" Konan questioned, as if daring Hinata to reply. She just nodded her head timidly. "Why that's... that's preposterous!"

"Y-yeah, it is..." Hinata said hesitantly. "He j-just wanted me to train more because I was supposed to be the heiress of our clan. He didn't think I was a good enough ninja."

Konan raised a blue eyebrow. "Hinata?" she said.

"Yeah?"

"I hate you," she said, shaking her head. "And honestly, I don't even know how or why you're in my room, sitting on my bed, while I teach you origami, but let me tell you something." Konan put the flower in her hair and looked at Hinata. "Just do whatever you want to do."

Hinata blinked. "W-what?"

"You heard me," Konan said with a shrug. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to. I mean, you made the choice to join Akatsuki. You chose to run away."

"That's true," Hinata agreed.

"Life's what YOU make it," Konan said. Then she stopped. "Why am I saying all this...?" she mumbled. Then she shook her head. "Anyways, just screw clan traditions. Let your brother or whatever have the clan. I don't even care."

"Yeah, Neji would be a better leader," Hinata admitted. "Or Hanabi." Hinata frowned, remembering both of them, and let out a sigh.

"Who are they?" Konan asked.

"Neji is my cousin, and Hanabi is my sister. They're both great, respectable ninja." She looked down. "I bet that they're so mad at me..."

Before Konan could respond, the door swung right open, revealing an orange-masked shinobi.

"Tobi!" Konan yelled. "Get out of here!"

"Didn't you miss me!" Tobi practically yelled. The next thing they knew, Tobi was gazing at Hinata. "Ooh!" he was saying. He began to crawl towards the Hyuuga and then he studied her face, too close for comfort. "My, my! What a pretty girl!"

Hinata blushed and looked away, trying to fight a smile. Konan just looked pissed off and annoyed.

"I'm Tobi!" Tobi yelled, jumping up and shaking Hinata's feminine hand. "And I'm a good boy!"

"Hehehe..."

"TOBI!" Konan screeched. Suddenly, her whole body began shooting small origami papers at Tobi. The last thing Hinata heard was Tobi screaming something incomprehensive. Then, when the storm of paper had disappeared, the two were both missing, leaving Hinata alone in Konan's room.

_I guess I should leave_... Hinata awkwardly thought as she shut the door behind her.

**xXx**

Neji looked around guiltily at everyone in the clan. They were plotting ways to find the Akatsuki and rescue Hinata or something, but he was only thinking one thing: _Should I tell them_?

Things had gotten very out of hand. Hiashi had almost lost nearly all his calmness, Hanabi wept every night, and Kiba had attempted to sneak out of the village at night with Akamaru and Shino, but had failed.

Suddenly, the young Hyuuga stood up from where he knelt around the large table.

"Neji, I was just in the middle of talk-" Hiashi started, but noticed the expression on his Nephew's face. "What is it?" Hiashi asked. "Do you know something?"

Hanabi looked at him with hopeful eyes, and Kiba stood up too. "Neji..." he said.

"I should have told you all of this way before," Neji said. "I wanted to find Hinata myself though before she got into any trouble."

The Hyuuga's stared suspiciously at Neji, who began to awkwardly pace around the room as he spoke. "About a year ago, I found out that Hinata was sneaking out a lot. So one night, I followed her. And I found her speaking to a member of the Akatsuki. I guess he was training her."

Everyone looked at him in disbelief. "No way. Hinata would never do that!" Hanabi said, and now she stood up. "She's much too kind and sweet and-"

"Yes, I know, Hanabi. She is. I tried to stop her. I talked to her about it, but she refused to stop seeing him. She knew that it was wrong, but..."

"I don't believe this." Kiba declared when Neji had trailed off. "She would never-"

"Well, it was very shocking to find out," Neji admitted. "But I saw it with my own two eyes. I know what I saw. And she even knows that I know."

"Well? Do you have any idea where they could have gone!" Hiashi shot.

"I haven't the slightest clue," Neji said honestly. "But I know who that was she was training with."

"Who was it!" Kiba excitedly asked.

"Itachi Uchiha."

* * *

**Shikamaru: Like I said, Ugala will be uploading the next, "MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH _JUICY JUICY JUICY JUICY HAWT_" chapter tonight ASAP, so please stay tuned.**

**Me: Th-thanks Shikamaru. You're the best.**

**Shikamaru: Ugh... just don't do that again.**

**Me: I can't help it!**

**Shikamaru: No, I mean that whole juicy thing was embarrassing to say...**

**Me: It's true though! XD Okay, you're free to go.**

**PLEASE MAKE ME HAPPY AND REVIEW! Before I have yet ANOTHER meltdown like I actually did when I got home from the midnight premiere... yes, I know, I'm a drama queen. Gimme a break!**

**Now I'm just gonna go curl up in my sock drawer and sleep for days. :'(**


	25. Chapter 25

**Hehe, I know I said I'd upload later that night, but I got grounded from the computer, SO... yeah. And, Eeveerocks1997, thanks for feeling me on the whole HP thing :) I'm glad that I'm not the only one.**

* * *

Once again, Itachi found himself jerking awake late at night. He was sitting up, panting and having hot flashes. He took off his shirt and threw it across the room before hanging his legs off the edge of his bed and staring down at the dark ground.

Suddenly, there was a familiar chakra presence right outside his bedroom. "Hinata?" he silently called.

"I'm sorry," her timid voice came. "Did I wake you?"

Itachi walked across his room and opened the door, only to see Hinata standing there in a tank top and flannel PJ's. "No, I was already awake," he said.

"O-okay, good. I d-didn't want to wake you up."

"Hinata, just so you know, I usually am awake."

Hinata smiled sadly as Itachi clicked on his lamp. "Is something the matter?" he asked, studying her troubled expression.

When Itachi had turned on the light, Hinata noticed that he was shirtless. She blushed and forced herself not to stare.

She looked down. "Just... homesick," she admitted. Hinata felt herself turning redder than a tomato and kept forcing herself not to look at him.

She felt her hands wrapped up in his. "You don't have to stay, you know," he said quietly. "You haven't done anything wrong." When she didn't say anything, Itachi just sighed. "Look, you have a choice to go back," he explained. "Everyone will probably ask you where you were, or keep bugging you about where the Akatsuki is, but you still have a choice."

Hinata shook her head. "W-well," she said nervously. "It would never be the s-same because I'd n-never see you again..." Hinata said.

Itachi couldn't fight the smile that made its way to his lips. Unfortunately, Hinata didn't see this, as she was too busy looking down. "I just don't want you to live a depressed life, knowing that you can't go back home..." Itachi said.

Hinata finally looked up at him, but he was looking away. He looked back down at her. "Hinata, I just... I just want what's best for you. You know that, right?"

Hinata slowly nodded, the blush on her cheeks standing out.

Itachi felt as though there were butterflies in his stomach as he watched Hinata getting redder and redder. Her blushing was contagious. Both of them looked away awkwardly

As Hinata looked around the room, she noticed something on Itachi's dresser. It was a framed photo of him and Sasuke sitting in a tree. Both looked much younger. Sasuke had a large mischevious smile on his face and was holding a kunai while winking at the camera. Itachi was hugging Sasuke, as if he was making sure that he wouldn't fall. But the craziest thing about that picture was that Itachi actually looked happy. His eyes formed crescents, and he had a warm smile on his flawless face. Hinata's heart sank as she looked at the photo.

Itachi glanced at Hinata noticed the direction her eyes had traveled. "That was before Sasuke started at the academy. He was always bothering me to train him and show him how to do all these difficult techniques. He was such a reckless idiot." He shook his head and walked over to the photo and looked at it as though he were looking into his past.

"That day, I don't even know how he did it, but he was stuck in a really high tree. He was gone for over an hour, so finally I went to go and look for him. When I found him, he was so ridiculously high up, and it took me forever to get up to where he was."

**xXx**

"Nissan! Nissan!" Sasuke yelled excitedly. "Look how high I am!"

Itachi looked up at Sasuke, worry etched into his features. "How did you get up there!" Itachi yelled.

Sasuke ignored his question and straddled the branch he was on, swinging his legs. "Can _you_ get up here, Niisan!" Sasuke asked.

Itachi shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "And can you get down?"

Sasuke stared down at his brother for the longest time before he began to clutch onto the branch, trying to inch across. Soon, Sasuke was hugging the branch and hanging from it like a sloth, screaming and holding on for dear life.

"HELP ME! HELP ME NIISAN!" he cried.

"I don't know if I can get up there," Itachi replied.

"You can do everything! Help me!" Sasuke desperately yelled.

Itachi fought a smile at the ridiculous sight of Sasuke upside down and hanging by his hands and legs. "I don't know, you're PRETTY high up. You might have to live there from now on.

Sasuke looked down at his brother, eyes widened with shock. "WHAT!" he yelled. "No! Don't leave me here!"

"Don't worry," Itachi said. "Maybe a bird will make her nest up there and adopt you. Then she can teach you how to fly."

Sasuke looked hopeful. "Then I can come back and live with you!" he asked happily.

"Oh wait... I forgot. You don't have wings. So you'll never be able to fly," Itachi teased. "Looks like this is your new home." And with that, Itachi turned to walk away.

"NO! NIISAN! COME BACK! DON'T LEAVE ME!" Sasuke's cries rang throughout the forest. He hung on as tight as he could and squinted his eyes tightly shut. "NIISAN!"

"I'm right here. You don't have to yell."

Sasuke popped open a dark eye and saw Itachi's feet. He was standing upside down on the branch.

"Whoa..." Sasuke breathed.

Itachi picked up his brother and sat him down on the branch. He sat next to the young boy, hugging him for support. "Sasuke," he said, thinking about his future mission that would take place in only a month. "You shouldn't do reckless things like this. I won't always be around to save you."

Sasuke looked crossly up at his older brother, then pulled a kunai out of his pocket. "You don't have to save me," he mumbled.

Itachi smiled down at Sasuke. "When you're a ninja, then I won't," he agreed.

"Niisan," Sasuke said, suddenly brightening up and turning his large eyes up to Itachi. "I'm gonna be as great a ninja as you someday!"

Itachi beamed down at his younger sibling. "Maybe even better," he said.

At this, Sasuke smiled even bigger. "You really mean it!"

"I mean everything I say."

"Niisan, you're the best!"

**xXx**

Hinata smiled sadly. She knew that he had never asked for any of this, and he didn't deserve to be hated and detested by everyone in Konoha.

"The only problem with having this," Itachi said, picking up the photograph, "is that when anyone just randomly decides to walk right in, I have to hurry and stuff it in my dresser drawer or something. It's ridiculous."

Hinata giggled. "Y-yeah, privacy doesn't seem to exist around here."

"I know that all too well, especially with Kisame. But, he knows, so it doesn't matter as much." He set the framed picture back on top of the dresser and then sat down on the edge of his bed. "Have a seat, Hinata," he said.

Hinata made her way over to where Itachi was and sat beside him. "Hey, Itachi?"

"Yes?"

She fidgeted with her fingers before looking up into his eyes. "Even if I could go back to the way it was before I met you," she started, "I wouldn't. Because I love you more than anything..." Once again, she was madly blushing.

"Hinata?"

"Y-yes?"

Itachi pressed his forehead against hers. "You are _the_ best thing that has ever happened to me."

Hinata felt his hands on her waist. As she looked up at him, she saw the craziest thing.

He was smiling at her.

**xXx**

Itachi was in a dark, depressing room with none other than Madara Uchiha, Konan, and Pein.

"So you're saying that Sasuke has his Mangekyou Sharingan?" Madara asked in surprise.

Itachi nodded. "Yeah, I couldn't believe it either."

Konan gasped. "How? Does that mean he really killed his best friend?"

"No, you fool!" Madara said, and a vein popped in Konan's head. "The Jinchuuriki is still alive! So how else could he have gotten it?"

Pein thoughtfully stroked his chin. "Is it because he killed Orochimaru?"

There was a silence. Itachi wanted to throw up.

"I refuse to believe that," he said. "The Mangekyou Sharingan is only acquired through the death of the one closest to the Sharingan holder."

"Yeah," Konan scoffed. "How could anyone besides that Kabuto freak care about Orochimaru!"

"Augh! That's just freaky!" Madara said.

Itachi wanted to facepalm. _Man, if that's really how Sasuke got his Mangekyou, I swear I really WILL kill him for this_...

Pathetic...

* * *

**Okay, so this last thing is pretty much saying that I'm about to wrap things up with this story...**

**OH MY WIZARD GOD! I'm gonna be sad! I've been working on this story for a whole year! :'( So review review review while you can! Thanks!**


	26. Chapter 26

**Warning! This chapter is very... corny :\ But, keep reading! XD**

* * *

"So, what is this all about?" Kisame asked suspiciously. He sat next to Hinata on the couch, while Pein, Konan, and Itachi stood in front of them.

"Well, since you are the only two that know," Pein said, "then you should also be the first to know."

"Know what...?" Kisame questioned.

"Itachi? Care to explain?"

Itachi closed his eyes. "Sasuke has gained enough strength to fight me," he said calmly.

There was a silent pause. Both Kisame and Hinata just gaped at the Uchiha.

Hinata remembered what he had told her, about how he couldn't bring himself to kill Sasuke. "Itachi...?" she nervously asked. When she had his attention, she gazed at him with her large eyes. "Does this mean...?"

She couldn't finish her sentence. Itachi looked at Pein. "Leader-sama, I would like to speak with Hinata alone."

He solemnly nodded, and him and Kisame left the two alone.

"I should have told you about this," Itachi said guiltily, still standing at the front of the living room and looking away.

Hinata was speechless. She could do nothing but stare at Itachi and feel betrayed.

"After that night, I told Sasuke that someday we would settle everything with a fight to the death," Itachi told her. "Sasuke's grown up a lot since I last saw him. He's gotten much more powerful. And right before I die," Itachi said, "I'm passing on all my power to him."

There was a long silence. Itachi slowly made his way over to Hinata, who hadn't realized that she was now standing.

"Can you see why I didn't want to get close to you?" Itachi said as Hinata looked away. "Once I realized that I had feelings for you, I thought it would be best if I just never saw you again." He stopped in front of her.

"When?" was all Hinata could say.

Itachi was silent for a moment. "Tomorrow," he said coldly.

Hinata felt like she had just been electrocuted. The next thing she knew, she had pushed past Itachi and was running upstairs.

"Hinata, wait!" But she kept running until she got to her room. Then, she opened the window, and jumped, landing gracefully on the ground. Then, she kept running, as fast as she could.

_This is ridiculous_! she thought as she sprinted through the trees. _Why am I running_!

Why _was_ she running? Hinata stopped, only to realize where she had ended up was the meadow that Itachi had taken her to. It was an overcast day, but somehow, the sky looked bluer in the field.

She just stood there for a while before making her way deeper into the beautiful clearing, trying to process what had just happened. Itachi was going to die. He was going to die tomorrow. He was going to get killed by an oblivious Sasuke, who knew nothing about why he had killed the clan.

"This can't be happening," Hinata said out loud, her voice sounding strange to her ears. She felt tears stinging at her eyes, threatening to spill over. Why hadn't he just told her?

But then again, it wasn't really his fault, she tried to reassure herself. She sighed. She shouldn't have run away from him. His entire life was hard, and this was how he had WANTED to end it, after all.

No matter how many times Hinata tried to make herself feel better, she kept feeling like she had been deceived.

Finally, Hinata sank to her knees in despair, and the tears escaped.

_This is ridiculous_, Hinata found herself thinking again. Itachi couldn't see her like this.

"Promise me something," a familiar voice said from behind her.

Speak of the devil...

The Hyuuga stayed where she was, not wanting to look at his face. But his footsteps came closer, and soon he was kneeling beside her.

"I want you to take good care of this place," he said. There was silence as Hinata tried in vain to calm down. "Don't let that idiot Deidara practice blowing things up here."

Hinata couldn't help giggling when he said this. She hiccuped and finally turned to face Itachi, feeling and looking absolutely pitiful. Through her blurred vision, she saw Itachi's pained and exhausted expression.

"I know you feel alone," Itachi said. "I've been alone. I've seen how heartless this world is. But I've learned something from this terrible experience." He took a deep breath. "Never give up. There's always something good out there. There's a light at the end of the tunnel. And Hinata, when I'm gone, you'll have something else to live for, am I right?"

Hinata nodded, placing a hand on her stomach.

Itachi smiled sadly down at her.

"B-but... you'll never see him..." Hinata stuttered, fighting back fresh tears.

"That's okay," said Itachi. "I know you'll take good care of him." He was silent for a moment. "I think he'll have your eyes."

Hinata smiled. "Itachi, I can't imagine what it'll be like without you," Hinata said, "but as long as this will make you content..."

"Hinata, thank you for understanding." Itachi said. "You're very strong."

"N-not as strong as you..."

"It may not _feel_ that way," Itachi said knowingly. He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. "I'm sorry for interrupting you," he said apologetically. "Should I leave?"

"No!" Hinata said louder than she had intended.

"Good," Itachi said. "Why don't we just stay here for the rest of the day? Just the two of us?"

Hinata smiled. "Okay..." she said quietly.

And so they did.

**xXx**

The next day, Hinata woke up with a headache.

"Good morning," Itachi's voice came from beside her.

Hinata sat up and looked down at him. "_Good_ morning?"

"Let's not start." Itachi got up and walked across the room to his closet, where he slipped on a shirt. Then he turned around to look at Hinata. There was silence.

"I... I don't know what to say," Hinata said lamely.

"You don't have to say anything," Itachi replied.

Suddenly, Kisame's voice was heard outside the door. "Hey, Itachi! It's almost time to go!"

Hinata gulped and looked back at Itachi. "Well..."

Itachi strode over to Hinata and looked into her eyes. "Goodbye, Hinata," he said. "I love you."

"I love you too," Hinata said. "More than anything."

Itachi smiled, his eyes forming into crescents. He looked like he did in the picture of him and Sasuke. He even looked as young as he did in it.

Kisame's voice was back from outside. "Okay, Itachi, Sasuke is almost to the Uchiha Hideout. Let's get going."

Itachi held Hinata's hand in his for a second. Then he let go and walked away.

Then he was gone.

**xXx**

"Are you sure she's gonna be okay?" Kisame asked worriedly.

"She'll be fine," Itachi said. "Hinata's a lot tougher than she seems. Just don't give her a hard time."

They were outside, nearly to the Uchiha Hideout. Suddenly, Kisame looked at Itachi.

"Hey, just so you know," Kisame said. "I may be a legit criminal and all, but I think that you should know that you've been a great friend to me. Thanks."

Kisame looked awkward as he said this. It was almost laughable.

"You too," Itachi simply said. Then, unexpectedly, Kisame collapsed and hugged Itachi around the ankles.

"Ohh, Itachi!" he wailed. "It's terrible to let you go this way! What a way to go! My best friend is about to die!"

"Kisame!" Itachi scolded.

"I just want you to know that you have taught me SO MANY VALUABLE LESSONS!" Kisame continued. "And I just HATE to see you goooo!"

"Kisame!" Itachi sweatdropped.

* * *

**Sorry about the abrupt ending, but I HAD to put a LITTLE comic relief in there somewhere :P Anyways, review, please!**


	27. Chapter 27

**Oh my WIZARD god, you guys! I've never had so many reviews for one chapter! It was amazing! XD**

**So, there are TONS of different events in this chapter... so please enjoy! And thank you soo much for your reviews!**

* * *

"It's been a long time, Sasuke." Itachi could hardly see his brother across the dark room, but it was definitely him. "But let's skip these pleasantries."

Sasuke just glared at Itachi, where he sat emotionlessly on some type of throne.

"So tell me, brother, how did you obtain your Mangekyou Sharingan?"

This was an unexpected question. Sasuke gulped. "It's none of your business," he growled.

"Really?" Itachi said suspiciously. He stood up and slowly made his way over to Sasuke. "Because last I checked, the only death that was caused by you was Orochimaru's." He stopped in the middle of the room, narrowing his eyes at Sasuke.

Sasuke glowered at Itachi. "How do _you_ know that's how I got my Mangekyou?" he asked in a daring voice.

"Are you saying that I'm right?"

"No!" Sasuke said a little too quickly.

"Please don't tell me you actually got attached to Orochimaru, foolish little brother."

Sasuke took a nervous step back. "Why _would_ I get attached to that creep?"

"You're lying."

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yeah, you are."

"No I'm not!" Sasuke looked like he was going to explode with humiliation.

Itachi, who was rather disappointed in Sasuke, said only one word. "Idiot."

And that is how their fight began.

**xXx**

Naruto, Sai, Sakura, Kakashi, Yamato, Neji, Kiba, and Akamaru all jumped through the trees.

"Guys, hurry! We have to get to Sasuke!" Naruto shrieked at the beginning of the group.

"Did Itachi seriously visit you, Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah! He made me swallow a bird!"

Silence.

"Okay..." Sai mocked.

"Shut up, Sai!"

Kiba growled. "I'm so pissed off right now," he grumbled as Akamaru barked in agreement. "I hope that Itachi bastard has the most painful death in the history of the most painful deaths." Then, he launched into a gory description of how he wanted Itachi to die.

Neji just watched him. "Don't get your hopes up, Kiba. Itachi is a powerful ninja-"

"-that stole Hinata from me and the rest of the village!" he snapped. "If it wasn't just a brother thing, I would so jump into the fight and join Sasuke! I want revenge! _Revenge_!"

Neji sighed. _Am I just going to have to listen to him complain this entire time_...?

**xXx**

Itachi had successfully removed the curse mark from Sasuke, and, despite himself, he smirked. "Was that difficult for you to watch?" he scoffed.

"SHUT UP!"

**xXx**

Thunderclouds were rolling overhead. There had just been a scene of great destruction in the distance: lightning, fire, weird creatures, and lots more.

Hinata winced. "Th-that looks intense..." she nervously remarked.

"Sasuke's gonna win! I know it!" a spazzy red haired girl named Karin said confidently. She and two others named Suigetsu and Juugo had arrived with Sasuke. Suigetsu seemed to be acquainted with Kisame. They were from the same village.

"Hey, Kisame," Suigetsu said.

Kisame ignored him and kept his back towards him, staring off into the distance.

"Kisame," Suigetsu tried again.

Still no response.

"Kisame, guess what!" Suigetsu was really getting obnoxious.

Kisame just continued to keep his back to the annoying younger weirdo.

"KISAME KISAME KISAME KISAME KISAME KI-"

"Oh my HECK, Suigetsu! What do you WANT!" Kisame turned around to face the white haired young man, looking furious.

"Goodness, it's not _my_ fault you're deaf," Suigetsu said.

"Well, what do you want?"

"I forgot."

Kisame looked as though he had just been punched in the stomach.

**xXx**

"Okay, guys, the Uchiha hideout isn't much further," Yamato said.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, determined. "I can sense Sasuke's chakra... and Itachi's."

"We have to hurry," Kakashi said. "It seems like he's running low on chakra."

"Right!" the group chorused as they picked up the pace.

Soon, they found themselves at the scene of destruction.

"Sasuke! Sasuke!" Naruto called as rain poured down from the sky.

"Naruto... he's not here anymore." Kakashi eyed Naruto, who looked as though he would collapse into despair any second. "Calm down. I sense another familar chakra. Can you guys feel that?"

The group was quiet as they concentrated. Neji, however, instantly reacted.

"It's Hinata!"

**xXx**

Itachi was barely alive. He could hardly see anything, he had exhausted his eyes so much.

As he lay there on the hard ground, he heard a voice calling his name.

"Itachi! Itachi!"

"Hi...na...ta..." he said weakly. He could feel her hands on his filthy face. He could sense her leaning closer and closer to him.

"Itachi..." she said quietly. Her voice broke.

He winced in pain as he attempted to speak to her. "This- this is how I wanted... to die. Remember that."

The last thing he felt were her cold lips on his.

**xXx**

"Hinata."

Hinata didn't look up. She didn't recognize the voice.

Suddenly, there was a hand under her chin, forcing her to look up at a familiar masked shinobi.

"T-tobi?" Hinata asked.

"No, I'm not Tobi," he said calmly. Lightning flashed, and Hinata caught a glimpse of a Sharingan eye. "I'm an Uchiha, too. Madara Uchiha."

Hinata was speechless. Was he really?

"I have everything under control, here. Don't worry."

Hinata quickly stood up and backed away. "How can I trust anyone like _you_?" she rudely questioned.

"How can _anyone_ trust me, really?" Madara sighed. "Honestly, no one really does. But when I was younger, I had a little brother that I adored, just like Itachi. We're a lot alike in many ways." He looked down at Itachi, who's eyes were wide open and glassy, then brushed his fingers over his eyelids and closed his eyes. "I respect him so much for what he's done. It wasn't easy. It must have been near impossible. I can't even begin to imagine..." he trailed off thoughtfully, looking down at Itachi's cold body.

Hinata hadn't realized the tears that were pouring out of her eyes at the pitiful sight of Itachi. He was beat up, bruised, and covered in blood. Her shoulders shook as she attempted to pull herself together, but her weeping became worse and worse.

Madara placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Hinata," was all he said. Then, with a puff of smoke, he was gone.

And so was Itachi.

"Hinata!" a sudden, familiar voice yelled from the distance.

_Oh, great_... Hinata slowly turned around, only to see several familiar faces from Konoha, her cousin AND Kiba among them. She closed her eyes. It looked as though she were going back to Konoha.

**xXx**

"Wow," Kisame said glumly. "Itachi's dead, Deidara's dead, and Hinata's been taken back to Konoha before any of us could stop them." He sighed, then looked over at Sasori, who was staring off into the distance gloomily. "Hey, Sasori. Didn't Deidara resurrect you or something?"

Sasori merely glanced over before staring intently back at the wall he was looking at before. "Mmhmm," he said.

"I don't get it," Hidan said. "Why didn't she just kill those-"

Before Hidan could cuss his mouth off, Kisame interrupted, "Because she didn't want to kill her friends, you dipwad!" He frowned and sighed. "Well, now what? Everyone is dying or being kidnapped by their villages..."

Sasori was still staring at the wall, as though he was thinking really hard.

"Sasori, don't you think you should-"

"He exploded himself," Sasori interrupted. "I can't bring him back."

"... _What_!" Hidan asked. "I was going to say that you should go work on your new battle puppet so that we can attack Konoha and bring Hinata back!"

Sasori was silent for a moment. Then he stood up from the couch. "Yeah," he mumbled before turning and leaving the room.

**xXx**

Now, it was evening. Sasuke and his team stood on the jagged rocks at sea, waves crashing up all around them. As Sasuke stared into the sunset, he remembered everything about Itachi. Although he had hated his brother earlier that day, he soon found himself distraught over Itachi's death, which was caused by him.

_He didn't deserve to die like this... He should have died a hero_. Sasuke thought, wiping his eyes. His team was still there behind him, with Madara Uchiha.

Sasuke's first thought was to destroy Konoha. Why should they live? It was _their_ fault that Itachi was forced to leave and join Akatsuki, _their_ fault that he had been hated all these years. Rage boiled inside of him, but then he had another thought. _What would Itachi say if I destroyed Konoha_? Itachi wouldn't want that. He did everything _for_ Konoha. What he really would want was for Sasuke to return to Konoha.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes in determination. _I won't return to Konoha... unless Itachi comes with me._ The truth was out. Soon, everyone would know what was inside of his brother all this time.

The young Uchiha turned back to his team. "Thank you all for helping me get here," he started coldly, "but I'm going on my own from now on."

"Wait, what!" Karin exclaimed. "But... but...!"

"Sasuke, aren't you _mad_!" Madara asked. "Don't you wanna-"

"Destroy Konoha?" Sasuke finished. "I did at first, but that's not what Itachi would want, now is it?"

"Well then, what are the rest of us gonna do now!" Suigetsu asked.

"I don't know, nor do I care," Sasuke said honestly. "But this isn't over yet. Not for me, anyways."

"Sasuke! You can't just-"

"Let him go," Juugo finally spoke up. "He knows what he's doing, and we'll just get in the way."

"Thank you, Juugo," Sasuke said with a slight bow of his head. The next thing they all knew, he was gone.

"SASUKEEEEE!" Karin cried.

"Oh my word, GET OVER IT!" Suigetsu yelled at her.

* * *

**It's not over yet ;) So review! I love your reviews, they make me soo happy!**


	28. Chapter 28

**Hey friends! Ugh, these next few days are going to suck royal hippogriff... Tomorrow, my sister is moving away to college. Then I only have two more days of freedom before "IT" begins again. WHY!**

**BUT on the upside, my new ballet pointe shoes came today! They're soo pretty and shiny and new! Ah, you've gotta love ballet :)**

**Anyways, don't let my complaints ruin your happy thoughts, just enjoy this next chapter!**

* * *

The room was dark. Hiashi, Neji, and Kiba all sat across from Hinata, looking rather angered. Kiba, for once, wasn't with his faithful companion, Akamaru. The only source of light was a lamp on the table. It looked like in those detective movies, when the suspect is getting interrogated. Yes, this whole scene was ridiculous, Hinata thought.

Hiashi asked his first question. "What were you thinking?" he rudely said.

Hinata was lost for words. What should she say? She just looked down.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you," Hiashi commanded.

Hinata timidly looked up at her father's shadowed face. "I was thinking that I want to make my own choices," she answered.

"Make your own choices? Like, going to live with a bunch of psychopathic men that are more than twice your age?"

Hinata winced when her father said this. Now that he put it _that_ way...

"Did you know that you could've died! Honestly, Hinata, you're really not experienced enough. It's always the others that have to save your life. No one would've been able to rescue you this time."

Hinata sighed and looked away, crossing her arms. "Well, if you weren't always putting me down, maybe I'd have a little more confidence to save my own skin." Hinata was surprised at the words that had flown out of her mouth. Usually, she would've just hung her head and let her father insult her, but for some reason, she didn't want to take it this time.

Hiashi looked angry, which was a terrifying sight, but he spoke rather calmly. "How dare you speak to me like that," he simply said before moving on. "Hinata, you're destined to become our clan's leader. Are you trying to spoil our family tradition?"

"You're always telling me I'm no good!" Hinata suddenly snapped to everyone's surprise. "How do I know that you weren't _happy_ when I left? Then maybe you can pass that responsibility down to Hanabi or Neji. You've always preferred them, anyways!"

The two were glaring lightning bolts at one another. Neji and Kiba both sweatdropped.

"Fine, then." Hiashi finally sat back and closed his eyes after a long, tense glaring contest. "Maybe I _will_ pass the responsibility down to someone more _responsible_." He stood up. "I'm going home," he told Neji. Then he disappeared through the door.

"Me too," Kiba growled.

"Wait," Hinata said, suddenly turning back to her timid self.

Kiba stopped in midstep and turned back to face Hinata. She couldn't really see his face, but his tone was harsh and sarcastic "I really have nothing to say to you right now. Except that I hope you and your psychopaths live happily ever after, because _me_... I will _never_ be happy again."

Neji looked down awkwardly.

"B-but Kiba!" Hinata tried to stand up, but she was attached to her chair in chakra-suppressing chains.

"Goodbye, Hinata," Kiba said, dismissing her rudely as he walked out the door. It slammed rather loudly behind him.

"I never thought I'd say something like this," Neji said, "but Hinata... you just got owned."

Hinata sweatdropped. Neji? Saying she was "owned"...?

?

?

Neji broke the awkward silence. "Look, I'm sorry about all this, but I-"

"No, it's not your fault, Neji," Hinata said quietly. "I shouldn't have made you hold that in. You were just trying to do the right thing."

"You know that you're probably going to get disowned, right?" Neji said.

Hinata solemnly nodded. "I know. I can't ever really mend things with Hiashi, anyway," she said honestly. "Or anyone in Konoha." She thought of all her friends. Naruto, Shino, and of course, Kiba. How could she do this to him? She hadn't even considered his feelings once when she had gone rogue.

The Hyuuga girl sighed. "So, what's my punishment, Neji?" she asked flatly.

"You're going under house arrest," Neji replied. "And you have to wear a tracker and a chakra suppressor."

"Y-you mean... they're not killing me?" Hinata asked in awe.

Neji shook his head. "Hinata, even though you've been living with a bunch of weird freaks for a while, everyone still finds it quite hard to see you as a threat." Neji closed his eyes. "Actually, everyone almost refuses to believe that you went along willingly."

Hinata felt more despair sinking in along with another feeling of realization that she had betrayed her whole village.

"Look, cousin," Neji said calmly. "I honestly don't know what you saw in that... that... _freak_-"

"He's NOT a freak," Hinata said defensively.

"Let me finish," Neji said. He took a deep breath. "But don't feel so guilty. Obviously, you're not evil. I trust you, anyways."

There was silence between them. Hinata felt tears sting at her eyes and she wanted to hug her cousin. "Th-thank you," she said weakly.

"And there's something you're not telling anyone, isn't there?" Neji asked suspiciously, brushing off her apology.

Hinata was silent.

"I can tell," Neji said as though it was the most obvious thing ever. "What is it you're hiding?"

_Should I tell him_? Hinata thought. She just sat there quietly for what seemed like ages, wondering if she should tell about her unborn son.

_If I tell, they might take him away... but I have to say something eventually_.

Finally, Neji stood up. "Well, goodbye Hinata. Good luck."

And with that, he was gone.

**xXx**

"Where's Sasori?" Pein asked Hidan. "I have to talk to him."

"I think that he's STILL in his room," Hidan said, rolling his brightly colored eyes.

Pein frowned and shook his head disapprovingly. "Go and get him," he commanded.

Hidan groaned, but went upstairs without a complaint. When he reached Sasori's room, he opened the door without knocking. But he didn't see him anywhere.

"Sasori? Where the **** are you!" Hidan rudely asked, stepping further into the room.

Suddenly, Sasori emerged from underneath his bed (yes, I mean he was UNDER his bed). He had dark circles under his eyes and his hair was a mess. "What?" he moaned in a groggy voice.

"Look, I usually wouldn't care," Hidan said, "but what is the matter with you? No one has seen any trace of you since Deidara was-"

"Why do _you_ care!" Sasori suddenly snapped, disappearing back under his bed.

Hidan just stood there for a moment. "Okay what's going on?" he said suspiciously. "If I didn't know any better, I would say that you're sad about Deidara." Hidan walked to the edge of the bed. "I thought you _hated_ him!"

Sasori was silent. "Yeah, I do hate him," he clarified.

"I don't know," Hidan teased. "You're acting just like Kisame was before he ran away."

Sasori stared up at the underside of his mattress. His eye twitched from lack of sleep. "What do you want anyway, Hidan?" he sighed.

"Leader-sama wants to see you," Hidan said with a shrug.

Sasori sighed. "Fine, I'll be there in a minute..."

Hidan stood there, feeling suspicious, before walking away with a smirk. _Well, I never thought I'd see the day where Sasori was upset about Deidara's death... weird._

Sasori was still under his bed. Suddenly, he crawled out from underneath. "I hate Deidara," he reminded himself before hurrying downstairs.

Once he got down there, Pein was sitting down in a chair in a very proper manner. "Good afternoon, Sasori," he said.

"Afternoon," Sasori said groggily.

"Have a seat," Pein said. When Sasori sat down, Pein said, "I have a mission for you."

Sasori groaned. "What is it?" he sighed.

Pein blinked. "But Sasori! You love missions!"

"Yeah, but sometimes the excitement of things just wears off," he said pessimistically.

"Sasori, you are GOING ON A MISSION and you are GONNA LIKE IT!" Pein suddenly commanded. This random uproar silenced Sasori's complaints.

"Right then," Pein continued in his usual calm manner. "I want you to FIND out where Kisame has gone off to."

Sasori, once again, moaned. "Why? He's gonna come back, you know. He even told Zetsu that he would only be gone a little while!"

"I don't care! It's important! Does he WANT his pet shark to die!"

"He took the shark with him," Sasori said. "Don't even ask how."

It was silent as Pein's hard gaze bore into the puppet across from him. "Go. Find. Kisame." he said, as though asking to test his patience.

Sasori stamped his foot like an angry two year old and started up the stairs, until Pein stopped him again.

"Sasori, don't deny it, everyone _knows_ that you're upset about Deidara dying," Pein said matter-of-factly.

"I hate Deidara!" he said a little too defensively before running up the stairs.

Once he got to his room, Sasori slammed the door and leaned against it. "What's the matter with me?" he muttered as he took deep breaths. "I really do hate Deidara... why am I acting like this?" Even Pinocchio and puppet making couldn't get his mind off of his former teammate. But they were always fighting over what was and wasn't true art, and if not that, something idiotic.

But now it was so... quiet, without hearing the occasional "BANG!" of his obnoxious explosions, and without all the angry, heated fights they would have.

Sasori's brown eyes narrowed in determination. He didn't care what his mission was. He still hadn't settled things with the nuisance, dang it! Sasori then decided that, no matter how difficult it was, he would resurrect Deidara himself.

**xXx**

Sasuke felt so out of place. He was in a library, of all places, looking for information to perform a resurrection jutsu.

He was in a dark section, full of informational books, some that he recognized had belonged to Orochimaru. He took a large ancient book from the shelf titled, _The Most Advanced And Seemingly Impossible Jutsu_.

He raised an eyebrow at the ridiculous title, but nonetheless opened it up. Clouds of dust sprung from the book, indicating that this was the first time it had been opened in many years. Sasuke coughed as he turned the pages to the index, and after what seemed like ages, he had found it.

_Ressurection Jutsu, pg. 395_

The Uchiha turned to page 395, feeling like a mega nerd. He read the first few sentences of the description.

_There are many different types of ressurection jutsu. They are all highly advanced and take a great deal of chakra_.

Sasuke glared down at the page. _This is ridiculous... it will take me possibly years to perform one of these jutsus..._

But he had to do it. He couldn't let Itachi die like that! He thought about what Madara had told him. About how he had rescued the entire village, and about how he had fallen in love with a kunoichi that he once knew.

Hinata Hyuuga. He had never really acknowledged her, but he had always known her to be a very nice girl that cared about her friends and comrades more than anything. She must have really liked Itachi to have betrayed the village for him.

_They both deserve better than this_, Sasuke thought, more determination flooding him. _I don't care how long it takes me to get this... Itachi _will _live again_.

* * *

**Reviews, anyone? Please? They make me feel amazingly wonderful!**


	29. Chapter 29

**I deeply apologize for the total lack of action/excitement in this chapter, especially since I've been super busy to upload! D: Basically, this is just starting to tie together other chapters in the future. Also, I have an announcement at the end. Anyways, try to at least PARTIALLY enjoy this chapter! XD**

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There was a knock at the door of Tsunade's office.

"What do you want?" she answered, which for her meant, "Come in."

The door opened, only to reveal two elders of Konoha: Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado.

"Lady Tsunade," said Koharu. "We would like to speak to the Hyuuga girl."

Tsunade blinked at their sudden request. "Hinata? Why do you want to talk to her?"

"Let's just say that it's important," Homura said.

"Hey!" Tsunade suddenly yelled, slamming her hand on her desk. "I think I have a right to know! I'm the Hokage!"

"So, you haven't heard yet, I see," Koharu commented.

Tsunade stared at her ancient, serious face. "What? What haven't I heard?"

"Well, we've known all along, but now that Itachi is dead, the word is spreading fast. Now nearly everyone knows." Homura pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Tell me what you're talking about," Tsunade commanded.

The two elders glanced at one another before Koharu said, "Hinata is innocent, Tsunade."

It was silent as the Hokage tried to process what she had just been told.

"Yes, and Itachi was innocent, too," Homura said.

So the two elders told Tsunade the whole story of what had really happened all those years ago.

"Why haven't I been told before?" Tsunade asked bitterly when the story was over.

"Because it had to be kept top secret. The story was never supposed to get out, especially to Sasuke."

"And he knows, too?"

Homura nodded his head. "Yes, he knows. He was told right after the death of Itachi."

Tsunade frowned. "That's... that's terrible," she breathed.

"It is, isn't it?" Koharu agreed. "Tsunade, we'll speak to the Hyuuga now."

"Okay."

**xXx**

"So, Naruto, let me get this straight: Itachi is innocent!" Kiba looked at the Jinchuuriki in bewilderment, having heard this story for the first time.

Naruto nodded. "Yes, Kiba! Gosh, do I really have to tell you this story again?"

"So where's Sasuke?" Ino asked, looking as curious as ever.

Sakura and Naruto both frowned. "Madara said that he WAS going to attempt to destroy Konoha, but he decided not to. He's trying to work on a resurrection jutsu to bring Itachi back."

There was silence.

"So are you still going to try and find him, then?" Chouji asked.

Naruto made a series of "psh" and "chh" noises before saying "Uh, yeah! Do you really think I'd let my best friend do this alone! Resurrection jutsus are very advanced, and he doesn't want just a regular resurrection jutsu... he wants Itachi alive again, for real! And I will support him!"

"That's impossible," Shikamaru lazily said. "A normal resurrection jutsu takes up a lot of chakra. And that's only temporary. Resurrection jutsus don't last forever." Shikamaru shrugged. "If he want's Itachi alive and walking, first of all, he'd have to have a lot more chakra than he has now, second, he'd have to figure out how to do it, which could take forever, and third..." Shikamaru paused before saying in a more serious tone, "he'd probably have to give his life up to do that, if he's really that determined."

Naruto looked around at all his friends before standing up. "Well, if it's really that hard, then Sasuke's going to need all our help and chakra."

Sakura stood up as well. "Naruto, what would Tsunade say-"

"I don't care what Granny says!" Naruto said indignantly. "No matter what Sasuke does to try to make me hate him, he will always be my friend. And I'm not going to let him suffer alone. He's from Konoha, and he will always be my comrade, no matter what!"

Sakura stared at Naruto in amazement. "Naruto..." she breathed. Then, she set about a determined look and said, "I'll help too."

Slowly, but surely, the others all agreed to pitch in, until that left only Kiba.

Kiba stared at his friends for a while, and they stared determinedly back. Finally, he reluctantly agreed. "Only for Sasuke, because he's my friend too."

"Yay!" Naruto exclaimed.

And him and all of their friends set off on a great adventure in search of Sasuke.

**xXx**

_What is he doing_...? Sasori peered from behind a tall headstone in the graveyard. "Is he...? No way..."

Sasuke Uchiha was a distance away at the grave of Itachi. Sasori could see Sasuke's profile. His eyes were closed and he was kneeling down solemnly in front of the headstone, his features hardened in concentration. Suddenly, a blue chakra sprang from his hands and shot into the ground like ropes. It was as though Sasuke was trying to pull Itachi out of the ground with all his might, but he failed and fell over in exhaustion.

Sasuke slowly dragged himself up. He was so worn out, he wasn't even aware of Sasori's chakra presence. He was too focused on bringing his brother back to life. "I... won't... give... up!" he growled in a determined voice.

**xXx**

The door opened, revealing a pool of light into the dark room, and the figure of Tsunade. "Hinata," Tsunade said softly, walking further into the house.

Hinata sighed and stepped out of the room. "What... what is it?"

Tsunade looked at Hinata. "I know about what happened."

Hinata just looked blankly at the Hokage.

"About Itachi being innocent?" Tsunade clarified.

Hinata's mouth fell open. "How... did the elders tell you?"

Tsunade nodded. "Everyone knows the truth now. Even Sasuke does apparently." She walked closer to Hinata and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Why didn't you just tell me?"

Hinata gulped. "I was just trying to respect him by not saying anything."

Tsunade sighed. "You really did love him, didn't you?"

Before Hinata could stop herself, she could feel tears stinging at her eyes. She couldn't say anything. Her voice had shut down.

Tsunade sighed. "Look, I wanted to set you completely free, but those... doofus elders will only let me take you off of house arrest. They say you still can't be trusted or you'll leave the village again." She rolled her brown eyes in exasperation. "Don't tell anyone I told you this, but... I really hate them and I cannot even stand to look at them... and I can say so much more about them, but I probably shouldn't."

Hinata couldn't stop the giggle that escaped her lips. She covered her mouth. "I'm sorry," she said.

"Me too... I have to deal with them every day!" She patted Hinata's shoulder again with a warm smile. "So, I don't mind if you want to stay here since you have nowhere else to go, but you're free to roam Konoha all you want."

Hinata frowned. "I don't know if I want to face anyone really..."

"They're your friends, Hinata. They don't hate you. They know what happened."

"But... there's something else that I haven't told you..." Hinata nervously wrung her fingers, biting her lip and looking away.

Tsunade placed a hand on her hip. "What is it?" she said in a strict, motherly tone.

**xXx**

"WHAT!"

Sakura and Ino just happened to be walking by the small house Hinata lived in, that looked rather like a dollhouse, when they heard Tsunade scream from inside.

Ino raised an eyebrow. "Do you think we should check and see if anything is wrong?" she asked.

Sakura took a small, tentative step forward. "Well... are we allowed in there?"

But before the two could even think about it any longer, Tsunade came rushing out the door, bounding down the porch steps. The girls noticed her frazzled expression, and one of Hinata's large, shy eyes peering out from behind the door.

The Hokage caught Sakura's eye and speed walked toward them, her expression almost angry. "You two," she jabbed her two fingers at the girls, "I need to speak with you."

Ino and Sakura glanced at each other nervously, unsure of what to do.

"NOW!" Tsunade suddenly yelled.

"Yes, ma'am!" they immediately said, straightening up quickly.

The Hokage grabbed Sakura's shirt collar and Ino's ponytail and began to forcefully lead them away from Hinata's house.

"Ouch! Ouch, Tsunade, that hurts!" Ino whimpered. But neither Sakura nor Tsunade payed her any attention. Sakura was noticing that her sensei was mostly wearing an expression of shock instead of anger.

"Lady Tsunade, what's the matter?" Sakura asked softly.

Tsunade shook her head. "It's just..."

Ino continued to complain behind them until they were up in the Hokage's office.

Ino looked at Tsunade, her eyes looking a bit watery as she rubbed the back of her head. "What's going on? Are you alright, sensei?"

Tsunade turned to look at the two of them seriously. "Girls, this is between the three of us for now. Understand? Don't. Tell. Anyone. Not yet."

They both nodded their heads.

"Right. Okay, let me tell you something..."

**xXx**

"WHAT!"

"Girls, quiet down!" Tsunade snapped.

"But... that's impossible! Hinata? Are you positive?" Sakura cocked her head to the side, curiously staring at Tsunade.

"It's true," Tsunade said solemnly.

"Eek!" Ino jumped up. "I can't wait! She's going to have a baby! Oh, I hope it's a girl! I'm going to take her shopping and fix her hair-"

"It's a boy," Tsunade said curtly. Ino's face fell. "Guys, we have to keep this to ourselves for now. Got it?"

"G-got it," said Sakura, still utterly shocked.

Tsunade nodded. "Great. Now I'm telling you this, because you're going to help me look after Hinata and make sure that nothing goes wrong."

"Right," they girls said at the same time.

"Thank you. You're dismissed."

* * *

**Okay! So how many of you have read my fanfic "It's A Wonderful Life, Sasuke"? I'm making another NON YAOI fanfic featuring Itachi, the Akatsuki, and all your favorite Konoha characters! But this one is gonna be more of an intense, action packed story :D It's pretty awesome! If y'all want me to upload a few sample chapters, I will do so, then you can tell me if you want me to continue or not ;) I'm also gonna put some ItaHina in there, just so you know**

**But I'm not going to upload the rest of the chapters until I'm through with this fanfiction, which is, unfortunately, drawing to an end... but I just want you all to know that even though I SUCK at updating, I haven't forgotten about all my online besties ;)**

**Thank you for all your support! ^^**


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